Two days later, Xu Lanyin went to the county town again. In the morning, she went to Hu's house, gave Hu Yi a box of homemade rouge, and chatted with her for a while.
Hu Yi had become much plumper than before, with a hint of baby fat on her face. She pouted and spoke of her worries: Hu Wan was getting married next month and would be living in the provincial capital for a long time, and she seemed reluctant to leave.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said soothingly, "When Mr. Hu has established a good business in the provincial capital, your family can move there and live together again."
Hu Yi smiled and said, "My eldest brother will definitely make the business a success." He patted his forehead again, stood up, and took out a box from the dressing table. He smiled and said, "My eldest brother said the dolls my sister taught me to make were very unique and beautiful, so he gave them to my sister-in-law. My sister-in-law has an embroidery shop for her dowry, and she asked the embroiderers to make more and sell them there. My eldest brother also said that I am skillful and my sister is thoughtful, and he couldn't let us two young ladies suffer, so he gave us forty taels of silver, twenty taels for me and twenty taels for my sister."
Her eyes were shining with joy, and she felt that she was finally useful.
Xu Lanyin didn't expect to have such an unexpected gain. She took the silver with a smile and praised the little girl a few words.
Mrs. Hu came and said that Hu Wan had helped find an old doctor who was good at pediatrics. The old doctor used to work in the Imperial Hospital and retired last year and returned to his hometown.
Xu Lan was overjoyed and thanked Mrs. Hu and Mr. Hu.
After lunch, Xu Lanyin went to the Hong family.
Mrs. Hu took Xu Lanyin's hand and said, "I heard something happened to Zhao Wu. That kid has a kind nature and doesn't seem like a gambler. Did someone cheat him?"
Mrs. Hu also suspected that Captain Zhang was behind this. Seeing Xu Lanyin acquiesce, she continued, "That Zhang Heizi is truly wicked. Just because he rejected his daughter's marriage, he's cheating a child like this. Zhao Wu owes so much money, does he need any help?"
Xu Lanyin shook her head and said, "Thank you, Mrs. Hong, the money has been settled."
Mrs. Hu continued, "My master also said that he would invite Zhang Zhangzi and Zhao Wu to our house for a drink someday, and he would be the middleman. Zhang Heizi is the local boss here, and even my master doesn't want to offend him. If Zhao Wu doesn't resolve his ties with him, it will be difficult for him to survive in Nanping County in the future. If it really doesn't work out, let him join the army."
Xu Lanyin thanked him and said she would take a look.
After staying at the Hong family until the early afternoon, Xu Lanyin hired a donkey cart to return to the village. Before reaching the city gate, he saw a long queue of people leaving the city, with a large number of soldiers and yamen stationed at the gate for inspection.
I heard rumors that three men had been knocked unconscious by bandits, and their lives were uncertain. Soldiers and yamen runners were checking for able-bodied men, and any suspects would be taken to the yamen for questioning.
Xu Lanyin guessed that Zhao Wu must have seized the opportunity to deal with Captain Zhang, and he succeeded. She thought Zhao Wu would do it at night, but she didn't expect him to do it in broad daylight.
Xu Lanyin lined up at the city gate. Because she was a woman and the coachman was a thin old man, she was able to get out of the city gate very smoothly.
Before they walked out of the doorway, they heard Zhao Wu's voice behind them, "Sister, you are leaving the city."
Xu Lanyin looked back and saw that it was really Zhao Wu. He came with two constables to help check the people leaving the city.
Zhao Wu took a few quick steps to Xu Lanyin and whispered, "Captain Zhang was knocked unconscious and hasn't woken up yet. We are catching a thief and won't be going home tonight." He winked at Xu Lanyin calmly.
Xu Lanyin's tense heart completely relaxed and she said with a smile, "Okay, be careful."
Seeing the slender figure getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared, Xu Lanyin remembered that Zhao Wu was in charge of public security in the county. If he couldn't catch the thief and solve the case, he would be fined. The government didn't impose fines, only flogging or caning.
It seems that Zhao Wu is bound to be beaten.
Xu Lanyin returned home and told Xu Lanting that she had found a good doctor for him.
Qin was overjoyed to hear that he was a former imperial physician and also specialized in pediatrics. She said they should go early if nothing was wrong. She was worried about Xu Lanzhou accompanying them alone, so she thought it would be best if Zhao Wu or Xu Dashi could accompany them.
Xu Lanyin said, "The shop is busy, and Dashi can't leave. If Zhao Wuneng can take a few days off, let him go with us."
Xu Lanzhou came back on the evening of the 17th. He had asked for a few days off because he had to look after the 20 acres of winter wheat that needed to be harvested.
Zhao Wu asked him to take a message to Xu Lanyin, saying that he was doing well, but the thief had not been caught, so he would have to be busy for a few more days.
Xu Lanzhou smiled and said, "Brother Zhao said that Captain Zhang and the other two have woken up. They said that the thief's feet were too fast and they were kicked unconscious before they could even see the thief clearly. They were all kicked in the temple, and after Captain Zhang passed out, someone stepped on him, breaking one of his ribs and three of his legs. Even if he's not paralyzed, he'll be lame. He's definitely disabled. They say that Captain Zhang offended someone so badly that his enemies spent a lot of money to hire an expert to deal with him."
When the Qin family and others heard that Captain Zhang would no longer be a captain after he became disabled, they were all happy and said, "He deserves it."
Xu Lanyin hadn't expected the three-kick technique to be so powerful, and she knocked out three strong men in an instant. Of course, Zhao Wu was even more powerful, and his kicks could only knock someone unconscious without killing them, so his strength was difficult to control.
Xu Lanzhou rubbed his hands together again and said, "So there really are such martial arts masters in the world. How come I haven't met one yet? If I do meet one, I must... pay my due respects to him."
He first wanted to say he wanted to be his disciple, but then realized that was impossible, so he changed his words and said, "I want to pay my respects to you." He also felt that even if his father were alive, he wouldn't have this skill. If he had this skill, he wouldn't have been killed.
Xu Lanyin was secretly happy and even "admired" you. I don't know how many times you two have fought each other.
The next day, winter wheat harvest began. Xu Lanyin, her three siblings, and Old Man and Old Mrs. Xu all attended. The bustling scene of the harvest delighted the Xu family. Farmers work on such a large field for half a year, and this year was a bumper harvest. The rent collected was less than what the Xu family bakery could earn in two months. But the family was even happier than if the shop had made any money.
Zhao Wu was sent back at noon four days later, lying on an ox cart.
The driver knocked on the door of the Xu family's second house and said, "Master Zhao is injured."
Xu Lanyin ran out in a hurry.
Zhao Wu lay on the ox cart, his face pale, and whispered, "It's okay, don't worry."
Xu Lanyin quickly took the key to open Zhao Wu's door and asked the driver to help him lie down on the kang.
Xu Lanting was so scared that he started crying and ran to the west wing.
"Brother Zhao's butt was beaten up, it hurts so much."
Zhao Wu hurriedly said, "Keep your voice down, he's not broken." Then he said to Xu Lanyin, "I'm fine, I was only beaten with twenty whips, it's just a superficial wound. Xu Dabang was beaten with fifty sticks, haha, he needs to recuperate for a month. Haha, that bastard, I'm going to beat him to a pulp in the future..."
And still laughing out loud.
Xu Lanyin felt very distressed, but she couldn't help him apply the medicine herself. Xu Lanzhou was in school, and Xu Qingming had to go to the county to pay taxes, so it was not appropriate to ask Old Man Xu to help.
She said, "Let Lanting go and invite Uncle Sanhe."
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