The Republic of China

Are tickets open? "Zai Jie specially brought the almanac and let the Taoist priests choose it. He also has heard a little about the name of the visitor. There is a Liu Daochang who has a list in the one-acre Niangniang Temple. This person is proficient in plum blossoms and Ziwei. It is very difficult to invite an expert, and now it is very difficult to come to the door by yourself, of course, you need to give enough money.

"Well, let the poor do the math...the 26th of this month is an auspicious day, and Jinshui is the right day for the ticket office to open. What time is it? It's the best time." Daoist Liu said very easily.

"Thank you, Daoist. If you can ask the Daoist to pray for the name that day, then we will be very grateful." The ceremony is more formal, and it can also attract the attention of nearby residents. Your son thinks this is a good way.

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say, then you must prepare the following supplies, and you record them one by one." He told Zai Jie the items needed for the practice in great detail.

At the end, Erbeile thanked him again and gave Guajin out of his own pocket.

Before leaving, Daoist Liu warned: "Although you told Pindao that you don't read fortune-telling, Pindao still has a word of advice."

He smiled and bowed: "Thank you for the reminder, Daoist, but it's okay for you to say." This is probably the usual trick of the world, just to collect more money.

"Now you have complied with the hexagram of water and fire, you need to be more careful in everything, beware of villains, and say goodbye to the poor, and come to the door in three days to prepare for the blessing ceremony!" Liu Daochang walked away after finishing speaking, even walking. A fairy air.

"Water and fire?" He is no stranger to hexagram 64, but he hasn't memorized it by heart. Although he doesn't believe it, he is still a little curious, and he will check it out when he gets home.

What's more, his current situation is not good in itself. After returning to Beiping from Tianjin, he always thinks about all kinds of troubles, especially because he has no children, no one to inherit the incense, and he doesn't know why he is living. If you are at a loss, you may even lose the power to move forward.Speaking of villains, I have met quite a few since I was a child, and Zai Hong's mother, Fang Fujin Luo Shi, is one of them.

Luo Shi was originally the maidservant of her grandmother. After her mother passed away, she married her father in one step. According to legend, she already had Zai Hong at that time, and her father had to take responsibility. In addition, Luo Shi's eloquent tongue coaxed relatives and friends around. , the position of Chuan Fujin fell into her hands.

Since he was two years old, he has been raised by Luo Shi. Although he has never tasted the torture in "Whiplashing the Reed Flower" (1), Luo Shi also treats him a little differently. The things of the three children are often divided into three classes, and Zai Hong has the most The best, followed by the eldest brother Zaiqi, and finally himself, but he never complained, and never told anyone about it. On the contrary, the nanny couldn't stand it anymore, and ran to the grandmother to cry, and finally regained his freedom, and the nanny They lived together, but the nanny was a good person who did not live long, and died of illness suddenly when he was 13 years old.

Note 1: Whiplashing Luhua is an ancient Han folklore story, which belongs to one of the 24 filial piety. The cotton-padded clothes made by his two sons are filled with cotton, and the cotton-padded clothes made for Min Ziqian are filled with reed flowers.His father found out about this when he was driving in winter and decided to divorce Li.But Min Ziqian tried his best to persuade, knelt down on his knees, and moved his father with affection: "Mother is with one son, and the mother is with the third son. If Gao Tangmu is left, the whole family will be reunited..." The stepmother was deeply moved, and she treated the three sons as usual. look at.This story is very touching, and later generations called this story "Single Yi Shunqin" and "Whiplashing Luhua".There are also poems praising: "Min's family has a virtuous man, why did he complain about his stepmother; leaving his mother in front of the car, the three sons will be safe from the wind and frost." There are also "Whipping Reed Flowers" in various forms of folk art such as Henan Opera, Beijing Qinshu, single string, and Errenzhuan.

☆, sudden sudden death

On the evening of Wednesday, Zai Hong came home with some New Year's goods, and Erbeile and his wife hurriedly entertained him, and Feng Ye followed suit to cook.

"Uncle, it's fine for you to come alone, why bring so many things, it's too polite for a family!" Hua Rong was busy making tea, and asked Mama Wang to add briquettes to the stove to make the room warmer.

"My sister-in-law is being polite to me. Isn't it the Chinese New Year? I bought some New Year's goods, and many of them were bought in Shanghai." Zai Hong took off his leather jacket and cotton cap, moved a chair and sat in front of the stove to warm up the fire. Don't tell me, it's really cold outside today.

Zai Jie helped his younger brother hang his coat on the hanger, and asked casually, "Why do you come here when it snows so heavily?"

"I'm not afraid of my brother and sister-in-law's jokes. The two in my family are fighting again. I use the excuse of giving New Year's goods to hide." Zaihong sighed. If he had known today, he would never marry the second wife even though Jin Ling gave birth to himself. , but the troubles in the family were disturbed, mainly because the first house Tong was too strong and always found troubles for the second house in different ways.

It was snowing heavily outside, and the yard was completely white. Xiao Yezi brought steaming stew from the kitchen, and he had to walk carefully. The white snow covered his feet, and every step he took made a "squeak" sound.

"Didn't the mother-in-law come out to reconcile? Her speech is more important than yours." Hua Rong poured tea for the uncle, and hurried over to help Xiao Yezi open the door.

Feng Ye brought the dishes into the room, and greeted politely: "Master Sanbeile, just now I know you're here, Fujin specially asked me to add some good dishes, please sit down for a while, and I'll continue cooking."

Sanbeile turned around and sat at the table of the Eight Immortals, and praised with a smile: "Mom is too lazy to care... Yo, Xiao Yezi really knows how to say, the second brother really found a good helper from Eunuch Zhao!" If he also It would be nice to find such a capable eunuch to do the job, but it is rare to find someone who is good at it. There are already four servants in his family, and it will be too expensive to support another one. Although he has income now, he needs to support ten Personally, it is really difficult, and he is really envious of the second brother, at least it is not that there are old and young, and the money he earns can save a lot.But when he thinks of his mighty elder brother, he is secretly happy. Zai Qi has not been able to earn a single silver dollar until now, and he is still living on his laurels. Compared with the unrealistic elder brother, he is much stronger.

"What you said is that I also discussed it with your second sister-in-law, and I will take Xiao Yezi to the ticket office in the future, so that he can learn to do other things." Erbeile also understands that it is impossible to support Feng Ye for a lifetime. He was looking for a job that could make a living, so he told Quentin about it. Quentin was naturally happy to hear that there was a helper who could write and count. He offered a salary of 20 silver dollars. He knelt down and kowtowed to thank him, which made him very embarrassed.

"It's a good thing. Our place is just short of manpower, but you have to hire more people at home." Zai Hong said while drinking tea, he planned to stay at the second brother's place tonight, so as not to watch Jin Ling cry and make trouble Three hanged himself.

Xiao Yezi hurriedly stepped out of the north room and went on to cook. There was still mutton soup in the pot.

Hua Rong interjected, "It's hard to find the right person. I didn't agree with it at first, but your second brother said, if we can't support the family for a lifetime, then don't delay Xiao Yezi." Although she was unhappy in her heart, she couldn't disobey her If the wishes of the husband make him unhappy, the relationship between the two of them will only get worse.

Zai Jie sat next to his younger brother and said plainly: "This is also the truth. We can no longer do things that are sorry for others. The maids and guards are okay. They can find a living again after they leave the palace, but the eunuchs are different. They are humble. If you don’t have the strength of a man to do rough work, and you don’t have the ability to survive, you can’t marry and have children, you will have no children, and your final fate will be very miserable.” As a member of the royal family, even if you are Make atonement for the ancestors.

"Second brother, you are really compassionate, but the world is so bad, you are still a bodhisattva, be careful not to be eaten." He also likes the second brother because of his kindness and harmlessness, but such a second brother will only be killed if he lives in a sinister world. slaughtered like lambs.

"You say that as if there are no good people in the world." Your young master said relaxedly, not taking his brother's words to heart.

Huarong glanced at her husband, and then said with ulterior motives: "You are right, your second brother is too honest, and honest people suffer the most. If you suffer, you still keep your bitterness in your stomach. It's too hard!" At that time, because of her husband's sincerity and stupidity, she was almost pissed to death, and even quarreled with her husband for several days. Although she regretted it afterwards, she didn't admit her mistake, because she didn't feel that she owed anything, and she didn't think that the boss and the third child had any reason to divide. What's more, it's not a little more points, but twice as much as them.

Zai Jie glared at his wife and motioned her to stop talking nonsense.

Sanbeile laughed instead: "Sister-in-law said that brother's problem needs to be corrected, so I took him to work in the ticket office." This woman's mouth is so powerful, no wonder the second brother doesn't like it.

"Well, uncle, you really helped him find a good job!" She smiled on her face, but she was cursing in her heart, can this little favor be exchanged for tens of thousands of property, as if she can't settle accounts?

Zaihong didn't want to talk to his sister-in-law anymore, so he turned his face to his second brother and said, "You know Liu Ye, the fat man who lives in Beiji Pavilion."

He thought about it for a while and nodded, "It's the sixth son who eats black and white and can talk to foreigners?" He had met Mr. Liu in Beifu before. Walk away, don't want to have too much contact with this kind of person.

"Yes, I passed by his house just now, and I saw that the family was doing white things... The sixth master suddenly disappeared. I asked their servants, but they all faltered. Someone must have made a fuss!" The youngest said vividly No matter how big the person is, he can eat as much as he likes, as long as he offends someone, he will die very quickly.

Xiao Yezi who was standing at the door was stunned, Liu Ye is dead?This is too sudden, could it be that he ran into an enemy?But after Liu Ye died, who should he ask about his father's whereabouts.

"Little Yezi, why are you standing there stupidly, serve the food quickly!" Fujin urged him, stewed meat, cabbage vermicelli fort, and cold dishes to accompany the wine were placed on the table, only a mutton soup was missing.

"Oh." He just came back to his senses, put the soup on the table, and served the three of them with rice.

After serving the master for dinner, Feng Ye walked out of the north room and returned to his room. He sat down on the bed. Although he didn't eat, he didn't have any appetite. He must go to Lu San tomorrow to ask for clarification. After thinking about it, he is not reconciled!

On this snowy night, Lu San was busy. At eleven o'clock in the middle of the night, when everyone in the old Liu's family was asleep, he climbed through the wall from the backyard and came to the mourning hall.

Originally, there should be a filial son here to guard the spirit, but the son of the sixth child has not come back from other places, so only two servants were asked to do it for him. Seeing that the family members were all asleep, the two servants also hid in the grand teacher's chair in the side hall and dozed off.

Because the person died in a hurry, I couldn't even get the best coffin, so I could only buy a medium-sized one. The body of the sixth child was placed in it, and white candles were placed on the left and right of the altar table, swaying slightly The flames of the dead body flickered with a strange expression, and under the reflection of the candlelight, the corpse's face was blue-gray, with its mouth wide open, which looked particularly terrifying.

Lu San gently walked over to observe carefully, and then moved closer to smell it. Suddenly, he felt a strange fragrance floating near the corpse. This fragrance made him a little dizzy. He quickly covered his nose and took a few steps back.It turned out that this guy died of poisoning, but who was the killer?

The bandit suddenly thought of the Japanese doctor. Could it be that the other party thinks that the old six is ​​troublesome and gets rid of his troubles?No, it might be someone else. The sixth child has been in the world for many years, and there are quite a few people who want to kill him.

As long as he can find out what the poison is, he can probably find the person who released the poison. He took out a dagger from his pocket, covered his nose, and punctured the blood vessel behind Lao Liu's ear. Wrapped in cotton cloth, after getting it, he quickly returned from the original road and went straight to the west.

The place Lu San was going to was outside Deshengmen, which was originally a slum. Many poor craftsmen and poor people lived nearby, and built many simple sheds. After passing the slum, there was a temple.

Lu San entered through the back door and came straight to the dark meditation hall, where a thin old monk was sitting cross-legged on a futon, chanting sutras.

"Master, I have something to ask for!" Lu San knelt down to perform master-disciple salute, respectful to the old monk.

The old monk stopped, turned his back to him and said, "Speak directly if you have something to say."

"The sixth child in Beiping City died suddenly this afternoon. I just went to investigate and smelled a pungent fragrance near his corpse. This fragrance can make people dizzy, so I'm here for you to check." He put The blood-stained dagger was placed on the ground together with the cotton cloth.

"I smelled it as soon as you came in. Go take a hot bath, otherwise you will be poisoned after three hours, otherwise it will be harmful to your body... Poison is caught in opium, which can make people ignorant Die slowly without realizing it." The old monk said, but did not open his eyes.

Lu San raised his head and said again: "Before he died, he met a Japanese who opened a clinic in Dongjiaomin Lane. The content of the conversation between the two seemed to be related to a church." He still hasn't found out which church it is, because there is a church in Peking. There are too many foreign churches.

The old monk frowned and was silent for a while before replying: "You can't take care of this matter anymore!"

He was very surprised, because the master is a person who has experienced great storms, if the old man says he can't take care of it, it must be a very serious matter.

"It's about dozens of human lives. Maybe there are foreigners colluding with local ruffians and tyrants to kidnap and sell people overseas." He can't do unjust acts, which is what his master has taught him for many years, especially when he gets involved with foreigners, he can't ignore it .

The master let out a long sigh, then turned around and said seriously: "This poison originally came from Western missionaries. They made it from mandala seeds mixed with opium. It is extremely poisonous and is used to control their followers. It was also used decades ago. It once appeared in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and there will be disasters where there is it, so I advise you not to interfere, we don’t have that ability!” Although he also had times when he was high-spirited and arrogant, but at the age of [-], he has already seen through the world Vicissitudes, do not want to do fearless struggle.

Lu San lowered his head silently when he heard what the master said, but he was unwilling!

☆, human pig

In the evening of the next day, Feng Ye rushed to Lu San's house impatiently after cooking for Erbeile and his wife.

Yongfu was practicing boxing in the courtyard, when he saw the person coming, he quickly stopped his moves and came forward to meet him.

"Brother Feng, let's go inside and chat." Lu San called him into the living room of the north room, and asked the nanny to pour tea for the guests. After the nanny went out, he closed the door, for fear that the partition wall would have ears.

"Brother Lu, I heard that Liu Ye died yesterday!" He was sweating all over, and sat on the chair to rest for a while before taking off his cotton cap.

Lu San nodded: "Well, I know too."

"He is dead, maybe I will never find my father, what should I do?" Feng Ye wanted to cry anxiously, but if crying worked, his years in the Forbidden City would be wasted, he suffered How many difficult days to survive until now.

The brave man closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Today, I also went to my friend to inquire about the bandit encounter in Fengcun 13 years ago, to see if anyone in the right way knew about it, but they all said it seemed like It wasn't done by bandits." His news is absolutely reliable, and he knows all about the bandits in the north. If it was really the bandits, he would know the truth, but no one has heard of it.After all, Feng Village is a small closed village, far away from the county seat, and it took several days before anyone found out about the massacre of the villagers.

"If it wasn't a bandit, who did such an outrageous thing?" Xiao Yezi was emotional, biting his molars and trying to keep himself from crying. Bags make people laugh!

Lu San sighed: "Actually, this matter is more troublesome than we thought. It also involves the foreign church. Even my master advised me not to deal with this matter, so I also advise you to stop it." Unexpectedly, he can protect himself, but this young man can't do it, and he is bound to die.

"I can't just ignore it...Brother Lu, what happened back then ruined my family, and even myself...was sold to the palace by human traffickers to become a eunuch. Do you think I can be reconciled? If my father has really died Underground, knowing that the Feng family has even cut off the incense, they will definitely not be reconciled!" Feng Ye bent down, resting his forehead and speaking slowly, but his heart was bleeding, full of hatred, he didn't know who to ask for it back.

Lu San looked at him in astonishment, and was speechless for a long time. Such a handsome young man actually became a eunuch, and he was not qualified to be a man, so he felt very uncomfortable!

"For a long time, I felt that my life was meaningless, but sometimes I would think, if my father was still alive, maybe I could see him someday, and gradually I got used to it. Empty, like a walking dead, others eat, I eat, others sleep and I sleep, but people still can't detach from the world, at least I can't, I haven't let go!" He covered his face, his throat choked.

Lu San patted his shoulder for fear of him, and persuaded softly: "Brother Feng, everything has its own destiny, no matter how much you imagine, there is no way to go back to 13 years ago, if your father sees you like this, he will be even more sad! "

Feng Ye covered his face and shook his head: "It doesn't matter whoever persuades me, I can't figure it out." He felt that this man probably didn't intend to help him, even if no one helped him, he must find out the whereabouts of his father.

"I can understand what you mean. I have no father or mother since I was a child. I was raised by my master. This feeling of wandering and rootless is also empathetic." Lu San supported the little eunuch's shoulder and said in a big brother's tone , he really wanted to help, but he didn't know if he had such a great ability.

Xiao Yezi wiped away his tears, straightened his waist and said, "I'm too selfish, I asked you to help me when I got on the pole, no matter what, if things have come to this point, is there any point for me to toss around?" He stood up and walked out. The snow in the yard hadn't melted yet. As soon as he stepped out the door, he fell face down in a big somersault.

Lu San leaped out and helped him up: "Are you all right, Brother Feng?"

Feng Ye smiled wryly: "It's okay, I used to get used to wrestling when doing things in the palace." This fall was not light, every eunuch in the palace used to wear knee pads to prevent knee injuries when kneeling, but now he No, so the knee is probably damaged.

"I broke my head!" The eldest brother frowned slightly, and simply carried Feng Ye into his bedroom and put him on the bed.

"Brother Lu, there's no need, I'll just apply the medicine when I live nearer." He was very embarrassed, it was the first time he had been treated so tenderly in such a grown-up.

Lu San picked up Xiao Yezi's trouser legs without saying a word, and checked the wound on his leg. There was also bleeding here, and there was a large purple gore.

"I have Baiyao here. You rub it on before you go back. My medicine must be the best in Beiping."

Feng Ye looked at his back as he went to the cabinet to look for medicine, and said with emotion: "When I was in Feng Village, if I broke my wound, Mother would wipe my wound with herbs."

Lu San took Baiyao and sat on the bedside, wiped his wound and said, "If you have any difficulties in the future, feel free to come to me. As long as I can help, I will do my best to help."

Feng Ye was naturally very grateful. Although he couldn't help him find revenge, he was still a rare good person: "Thank you, big brother, Lord Belle helped me find a job in the ticket office. I will learn how to do things in the future. Think about it slowly You can forget about the things that are in your heart.”

"That's good. If there is hatred, you will be unhappy in the future." It's good for this person to figure it out, but he knows that resentment is the last thing to forget, otherwise there wouldn't be so many bloody storms in the world.

While the two were talking, Lu Guier walked in. The little girl was wearing two braids and a newly bought green silk gown. She asked curiously, "Father, who is this brother?"

"Your daughter, I've seen it before, she's so beautiful!" Seeing this child, Feng Ye half forgot all the sad things.

"My daughter, Guier, is not my elder brother, but Uncle Feng." Lu San pulled her daughter over and asked her to learn to be more polite. Usually, this child rarely goes out and doesn't like to talk to other people, probably because she followed her mother since she was a child. , without his mother to take care of him, and he is not always in Beiping, now he consciously let Gui'er get in touch with more people, and he will be more courageous.

"Hello, Uncle Feng, what's the matter with you, Uncle, your head is broken!" She said worriedly, and immediately ran to the outhouse to get hot water and towels. When her father came back last year, he brought a friend with injuries all over his body. And help boil water.

The little girl wiped the wound on Feng Ye's head herself, and said like a little adult: "Use Daddy's Baiyao to wipe it and it will be fine soon."

"Gui'er likes you very much, come here often in the future." Lu San was very happy, as it was rare for a girl to be so close to a stranger.

"Okay, I will definitely bring delicious snacks for Gui'er next time." Feng Ye smiled. It's great to have a child, but it's a pity that he doesn't have such a blessing. Maybe one day he can have a real nest to settle down. Go adopt one, at least you will have support in your later years, and you won't be lonely in normal times.

After sending Feng Ye back to Erbeile's house, Lu San hurried out again in the early hours of the morning. He came to the mysterious Japanese clinic again, this time he came prepared.

He took out a piece of drugged pig's head from his pocket, and threw it into the backyard unexpectedly.The wolfdog immediately went into the nest and ate the meat. After about 15 minutes, it became sleepy and fell asleep in the nest.

Lu San climbed over the wall and jumped into the backyard. He looked around, and the storage room attracted his attention.He took out the steel needle for unlocking again, pried open the lock of the storage room, and walked in in the dark.

Relying on the faint light of the luminous stone in his hand, he found the end of the storage room, where there was a cobblestone fireplace. Lu San squatted down to examine it carefully, then knocked on the wall with a dagger, and heard a hollow echo. Authentic.

He continued to grope around the fireplace, and a smooth pebble caught his attention. He tried to press it down, but it was slightly loose, but the fireplace was fine.

"Chicken thief, little Japan!" He scolded, it seems that this is not a separate agency, but it will be activated together with other agencies.

He lowered his head to look at the ground, groping while watching. The gray floor tiles were very neatly laid, but there was a big gap around one of them. He stepped on it quickly, and he could barely reach the mechanism of the cobblestone above with his hands. At this moment, the fireplace The secret door in the cave was gradually opened.

There is a tunnel behind the door, just enough for a person to pass through. There is an electric light on the stone wall for lighting. He took out a hard piece of iron from his pocket and stuck it under the door. He was afraid that the door would suddenly close and he would not be able to escape.

Only then did Lu San go down the tunnel, and after walking about ten meters, he saw a passage paved with gray stone slabs, and a stench of stench rushed towards his face. He took out a sweat towel to cover his mouth and nose, and continued to walk. Walking forward, I saw that there were gates on both sides leading to it, and the stench was particularly strong.

He walked to one of the fence gates, looked inside, and was stunned!

Behind the fence, there are two beds. There are people lying on the beds. It is no longer accurate to call them people. They lost their limbs, stared at the dark roof with dull eyes, and breathed with their mouths open. The stench came from them. Floating here, there is a bucket under the bed, and the urinal is used to urinate, both of them are male, about forty years old.

"Can you hear me?" Lu San asked in a low voice as much as possible, but the two of them acted as if they didn't hear it, and they still breathed with their mouths open. This was the only behavior that could prove that they were still alive. It should be All had their tongues cut out.

Lu San sighed, and walked towards the fence gate on the other side. There were still two men inside, and there were no limbs, but needles were inserted in their shoulders, and they were connected to plastic tubes. in an airtight glass container.

It turned out that this was "selling blood". In order to prevent these men from escaping, the Japanese doctor cut off all limbs. These people spent the rest of their lives like pigs providing nourishment for others until they ran out of oil and their lamps dried up.

He counted the fence gates here, there are six in total, and there are two people in each room, and twelve people are locked in it, but he heard from Feng Ye that there were 30 men who went to the village, and they were all young and middle-aged. Today, there are about forty, which means that most of them may have been tortured to death.

Thinking of this, Lu San was furious, the damned little Japanese had made the living people worse than animals, how could he swallow this anger!

But right now, he can't scare the snake. If he had been exposed earlier, he would have caught the person behind the scenes. Thinking of this, he had no choice but to temporarily suppress his hatred and go back the same way. No bloody man could see this scene Still able to stand by and watch, he made up his mind to investigate and find out.

☆, opening ceremony