15 Chapter 15
◎Escape from this snare◎
The seventh month of the lunar calendar arrived, the nights were cold and the days were hot. The beginning of autumn arrived in a flash, and Gui'er was still imprisoned in the death row.
After the incident, the Jiang family quietly left Puyang City without saying goodbye to Cheng Mu, and the house was left empty.
On the third day after Yu knelt in front of the yamen, it rained heavily and she fainted in the rain. Captain Lin took her away and it was inconvenient to take care of her, so he secretly sent her to Cheng Mu.
Cheng Mu gave her some medicine and told her not to go out again.
"On the first day of July, the gates of hell open. Madam Cheng, can I send some small clothes to my family?" Yu took a pile of neatly cut clothing patterns and wanted to draw a circle in this yard and burn them at dusk.
After Cheng Xi agreed, she bowed deeply and said, "Madam Cheng, you will be rewarded for your kindness."
Cheng Mu mixed dried fruit preserves with tea, made a cup of local brewed tea and gave it to Yu Shi. "Like you, I like to receive retribution in this life."
Cheng Mu also advised her to be more open-minded. Yu said that Gui'er was bound to die and she would send her off well. There was nothing to hope for in the future, so what else could she do if she didn't go with her.
Cheng Mu then said that she had spent four taels of silver to take care of Gui'er, and five cents on the medicine, food and accommodation for Yu, a total of four taels and five cents of silver. She would pay it back before leaving.
Yu only had skills in needlework, so she said she would make winter clothes for her uncle and sister-in-law.
In this matter, Cheng Mu was a bit unreasonable. She bought all the fabrics, silk threads and velvet flowers for the clothes, and also provided Yu with food and accommodation, saying that she would only be paid as wages. With the four taels and five cents, Yu had to do needlework for her for at least two or three years.
Yu hadn't promised to work that long; she simply started working every day. With work to do, she didn't have to think too much, and as she worked on one garment after another, the days felt easier.
After Gui'er got into trouble, Mu Yun followed Cheng Mu's instructions and inquired about the progress of the case every now and then. Today he went to Captain Lin again.
When he came back and entered the yard, he saw a cluster of paper fires under the jujube tree. Yu was squatting there delivering winter clothes.
When Yu saw him, she stood up expectantly.
There is news today.
Mu Yun didn't say anything to her and went to find Cheng Mu first.
"Has this matter been reported to the court?" Cheng Mu asked curiously, "No wonder there has been no news for so long."
"Madam Cheng." Yu was already standing outside the door. She didn't hear what was said before, but she knew they were talking about Gui'er's case. She looked at Cheng Mu eagerly.
Cheng Mu's lips curled up, "Aunt, it's good news. The court is grateful for Gui'er's filial piety and has pardoned her crime."
Yu slumped against the wall frame, "Really?"
"Really? The decree has already reached the county government office. They will be released tomorrow."
Yu was so happy that she cried. What surprised her even more was that the matter was reported to the emperor, and "the emperor personally pardoned her crime..."
"Yes, auntie, if you still want to commit suicide, you will be disobeying the emperor's order. You must stop thinking about it and live a good life from now on."
Yu's tears streamed down her face, and she knelt before Cheng Mu in haste. "Gui'er can escape this trap. Madam Cheng, you are her second parent. Tomorrow I will bring Gui'er to obey your orders."
Cheng Mu was too embarrassed to accept such a great gift and quickly helped her up. "I couldn't help at all. It was Gui'er's filial piety that moved heaven. It was her own good fortune."
Yu thanked him and cried.
After she left, Mu Yun asked Cheng Mu, "Gui'er is acquitted. The Yang family will definitely come to seek trouble. Will you protect them?"
Mu Yun often went to Captain Lin's house. He knew that there were troublemakers watching outside Captain Lin's house. On that day when it rained heavily, Captain Lin took Yu away in front of the yamen. They thought that Yu was in Lin's house and were just waiting for an opportunity to take action.
The Yang family is a wealthy family and is used to being arrogant. They cannot swallow the fact that they can kill people without paying for their lives. Wasn't the Jiang family forced to leave their hometown and flee for their lives? I'm afraid that Yu's mother and daughter can't stay in Puyang City anymore.
"The Yang family should have received the news, Mu Yun...you go to Captain Lin again." Cheng Mu wanted Captain Lin to do her a favor. They could use the time difference to pick up the person tonight and leave the city as soon as the city gate opened tomorrow morning.
Mu Yun asked, "Do they have anywhere to go?"
Cheng Mu didn't know either, "Wait, let me go ask Aunt Yu first."
Yu Shi hadn't expected the Yang family to bring bad luck upon them. She didn't know where to go. "Madam Cheng, we can't grow crops in Zhaojia Village, and many people have moved away. With Gui'er's father gone, we can't make a living there. I can sew, and being in the city is definitely better than staying in the village."
"How about going to Yanyun City?"
"No relatives or friends."
"Aunt Yu," Cheng Mu didn't know whether she liked to hear this or not, "If you really have nowhere to go, what do you think of Captain Lin? You didn't consider it before because of revenge, but what about now? Life has to go on..."
Yu interrupted her, "Madam Cheng, we're both in trouble right now. You're a good person, and Captain Lin is a good person too. We don't want to get involved." She made a decision, "Tomorrow, I'll go pick up Gui'er openly. I have no control over what happens to the Yang family from now on. It's fate that I can't avoid."
Having made up her mind not to come back here tomorrow, Yu started to pack her things.
Yu and Cheng Mu apologized for not being able to take the unfinished clothes and materials.
When Cheng Mu asked her where she was going tomorrow, she just said she had somewhere to go.
Early the next morning, Yu went there and Mu Yun followed her to the county government office.
After all the relevant people arrived, the eunuch read out the imperial edict, the content of which was the verdict. There were many people watching in the hall, including people from the Yang family.
As soon as the imperial edict came out, the whole audience was in an uproar. Among the crowd were people who had been oppressed by the Yang family, and people who were inspired by Gui'er's filial piety. After listening to the imperial edict, they all felt happy in their hearts. Someone took the lead and shouted "Long live the capital!" in the direction of the capital.
Who cares whether the person sitting in the Golden Throne Palace can really live for ten thousand years.
Just as Mrs. Yu had released Gui'er, an urgent report came from over eight hundred miles away.
A huge piece of news came right away.
The emperor, who had reigned for thirty years, passed away.
On the day of the funeral, princes from all over the country had to go to the palace to pay their respects to the late emperor's remains. In recent days, the official roads were crowded with people.
Cheng Mu remembered that at this point in the book, something major happened.
The person sent by the Prince of Yanyun's Palace to the capital to attend the funeral was the male protagonist. During the male protagonist's absence, a war broke out in Yanyun City. The male protagonist's half-brother joined forces with the court to raise an army, surrounded the Prince of Yanyun's Palace, and took control of Yanyun City.
The soldiers guarding the border of King Yanyun rushed back and fought a fierce battle outside Yanyun City. Puyang City is the closest to Yanyun City and is the last stop on the road from the Central Plains to Yanyun City. Merchants traveling from the south to the north often stop here to rest, and the court's soldiers will also pass through here to Yanyun City. This war is likely to take place in this area. I don't know if we can escape this disaster.
"Things are going to get a little turbulent," Cheng Mu said to Mu Yun. "It's best not to go out. It's a period of national mourning, so don't go to Master Lin's place for now."
Mu Yun agreed.
Cheng Mu asked, "Where did Aunt Yu and Gui'er go?"
"At Aunt Jiang's house, the lease hasn't expired yet."
Cheng Mu didn't expect that she would actually find a place for herself. It seemed that Yu was forced into a corner. If Jiang were here, there would be another storm.
That night, a group of soldiers from the imperial court arrived and Puyang City was under martial law. The city gates were not opened the next day. A storm was about to come, and the people in the city were all panicked. The grain and oil shops were crowded with people.
Influenced by the atmosphere, Mu Yun searched the house to see if there was a cellar where he could hide. There were usually cellars for storing food in the north. He put a ladder down and found that there was no ventilation and the place was not big, so people could not hide there for long.
Cheng Mu pulled him up and said, "Don't be so nervous. It shouldn't be a Mongolian attack."
The Mongols frequently invaded our borders. If they invaded our cities, there would likely be a massacre. We could hide for a while, but not for ten days or half a month. If there was civil unrest within our own country, as long as we stayed quietly at home and didn't accidentally enter the battlefield, we would basically be safe.
After listening to her analysis, Mu Yun felt that it made sense and gradually felt at ease.
Cheng Mi had space in her hands and collected many kinds of grains and vegetables, so they were not afraid of running out of food.
Mu Yun sat down and ground flour with her.
They bought a hand-pushed mill, which could not grind much at a time. People in ancient times would grind whatever they wanted to eat. Now Cheng Mi was more skilled. One of them did the rough grinding while the other sifted the powder. The powder that could not be filtered out by the fine sieve was poured back into the mill to be ground.
Repeat over and over again.
The flour that comes out is not white, but appears darker because it contains bran. It is authentic whole wheat flour.
When making steamed buns, Cheng Mu likes to add some black sesame powder. Adding oil will make the steamed buns softer and more fragrant. The only drawback is that they become darker.
Dried fruits can also be added. Cheng Mu chopped the dried fruits and kneaded them into the dough. Mu Yun didn't like snacks, so Cheng Mu came up with this idea. He enjoyed the steamed buns with dried fruits, and they were nutritious.
The dried fruits commonly used for making tea include raisins, red dates, hawthorns, wolfberries, longans and monk fruit.
A few days ago, Mu Yun spent a lot of money to buy a bunch of grapes with particularly large and ripe fruits on the street. Cheng Xi collected all the grape seeds and transferred them to the space.
The space is an absolutely ideal environment. Processing grape seeds only requires a thought, and planting and management only requires setting up a program. The temperature is suitable, no watering is required, the soil moisture can be set directly, and the same applies to fertilization.
She has harvested grapes five times in her space now, and has harvested a lot. If she wants to eat them, she can take them out directly. If she doesn’t want to eat them, she can keep them fresh. The space is more useful than a refrigerator and can hold as much as she wants. She has dried most of them to make raisins, which are convenient to store after taking them out.
She didn't have much space, and the grape vine took up a large area after the trellis was erected. She originally wanted to plant a date tree there, but she was afraid that the tree growing there would hinder the planting of other crops, so she was ready to sacrifice even the grape vine at any time.
I don’t know how the war outside is going. Puyang City has been closed for eight days and there are almost no people on the streets.
That night, someone knocked on the door.
Gui'er supported Yu and stood at the door.
Mu Yun brought the person into the house, to the room where Yu originally lived, and Cheng Mu lit the lamp.
Under the lamp, the mother and daughter looked sallow and miserable. They staggered and knelt on the ground, "Madam Cheng, please save us."
Although the two of them lived in Jiang's house, there was nothing to eat there. Gui'er killed a man sent by the Yang family to do the evil, and found two coins of silver on him. The prices of vegetables and grains in the city had skyrocketed in recent days, and this amount of money was not enough to buy food.
There was no one on the street, restaurants, teahouses and shops were all closed, and even beggars couldn't get food.
She had no choice but to go to other people's vegetable gardens to pick some, choosing those that were not located in her own house. The gardens were under strict supervision recently, and she was caught and beaten several times. Once, the owner saw that her face was covered in blood, but she was still holding the two taro tightly and refused to let go, so he let her take them away.
Even if they relied on stealing and robbing, they could only eat one meal a day. In the past two days, they had no energy to touch food, and the two almost starved to death at home.
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