One hundred and forty-four
After discussing with Fu Wei, Yu Ying prepared pen, ink, paper and inkstone, intending to send a letter back to Li.
Before she put pen to paper, she played back the memories of Yu Liuniang from childhood to adulthood in her mind, scene by scene, and then wrote down in a letter the warmth she had experienced with Li and Yu's father, as well as the interesting stories of her growth with her brother and sister.
No matter how miserable Yu Liuniang was, she still had family members who loved her and cared about her.
After going through Yu Liuniang's memories, Yu Ying felt a little depressed and her heart was blocked.
But the most realistic problem is that she also has to survive.
The only way to survive is to live as Yu Liuniang, so she has to lie, and this lie has to be convincing without any mistakes.
After suppressing these complex emotions, he then told Li to take good care of herself. Finally, he put down his pen and muttered, "Yu Liuniang isn't very capable, and she hasn't had a good reputation since she was a child. I think she's completely different now, and she hasn't even been back home. That's why Li suspects someone is impersonating her."
Fu Wei was standing by, picking up the letter and gently lifting it a few times. He waited until the ink had dried before folding it up and said, "It's better to suspect someone of impersonating Yu Liuniang than to..." He paused, and the rest of the words were self-explanatory.
It's better than suspecting that the soul has been replaced.
Fu Wei paused for two breaths before continuing, "You are now a member of the Fu family, and your interactions with the Yu family won't be extensive. There's no need to worry too much."
Yu Ying hummed, clearly in a bad mood.
Fu Wei put the letter into a bamboo tube and asked someone to deliver it to Shidi Village in Xin County after he started his shift tomorrow.
*
Li received the letter on the eighth day after Fu Wei left.
Perhaps the news of Fu Wei's previous visit reached the ears of the bully in Xin County. The bully was a little afraid of Fu Wei and did not dare to propose marriage at the agreed time.
To put it nicely, it is a betrothal gift and a concubine, to put it bluntly, it is a sum of money that breaks off the engagement and buys out the relationship of life and death.
Maybe he's taking a break, or maybe he's just taking a break to weigh things before making a proposal.
When Li was Madam Yu, she had seen too many different kinds of people. People like this liked to take a gamble. After testing once or twice, they would take action as long as they were sure there was no threat.
Fu Wei must have investigated the bully's character, which is why he asked Ba Niang to pretend to commit suicide and make the matter bigger.
If he exaggerates it a little more, I'm afraid the magistrate of Xin County will have no choice but to do nothing.
Li withdrew her speculation and opened the letter sent by Fu Wei.
I originally thought it was a letter from Fu Wei, but the first sentence I saw was - Mother, are you well?
I was stunned for a moment.
My eyes gradually moved downwards, and I saw the same familiar handwriting as always, with the lines full of detailed descriptions of past events.
After seeing this letter, Li's eyes were sore and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
If it wasn't her Liu Niang, how could she know so much about her childhood?
Then, Yu Ying explained Li's doubts.
The letter said: Mother, when I first arrived at the Fu family, I couldn't fill my stomach. I could only eat boiled wild vegetables that were hard to swallow, and I didn't even have a decent pot.
I originally wanted to escape back, but when I thought about dragging down my mother and elder brother, I gritted my teeth and persevered. I relied on the two silver leaves my mother gave me and the little money I earned by picking herbs in the mountains that my father and brother had taught me to recognize, and I was able to make a living.
I know what my mother is wondering, so I'll just listen to what my daughter has to say.
My husband's legs were indeed broken by the Huo family's son who was taken away by mistake, and Luo's eyes were almost blind, but my husband secretly contacted his former best friends and found various medical books.
I discovered this by accident, so I threatened him and taught myself medicine. Fortunately, I had some basic knowledge, so I was able to get started.
Later, when the epidemic happened, it happened that Fu Wei's best friend was also in Yu County. Although he was the first to discover it, his identity was limited, so he could only tell it through me.
After this incident, the people of Yu County respected me, and the county magistrate also looked up to me.
It turns out that fame can really be used to make a living.
The daughter was ignorant before, but after experiencing the death of her father, her house being ransacked, her exile, and being starved, the daughter really became sensible.
Mother, my daughter wants to be a famous doctor in the future, so that she can be respected by others and live a life of luxury.
By the way, mother, do you remember that I used to love beauty and always liked to try some beauty and skin care methods? Now they are useful and I have won the favor of the prefect's wife.
My husband and I have discussed this. As long as my wife and I can earn the prefect's appreciation, in two years, when the governor gradually forgets about the existence of such an imperial physician as the Yu family, he will transfer the Yu family from lowly status to good status.
Each of these matters is of great importance. Mother, please do not tell anyone else, not even your eldest brother, so as not to implicate your husband, his closest friends, and your daughter.
——
When Mrs. Li heard her daughter's description of her childhood, she was already 70% convinced that she was her daughter.
Perhaps it was because of preconceived ideas, and when I saw the completely reasonable reasons that followed, I believed them all.
And subconsciously, Li still hoped that the respected Doctor Yu in Yu County was her daughter.
After putting down the letter, the gloom on Li's face was immediately swept away, and she showed a rare relaxed expression.
Yu Ba Niang brought in the medicine from outside and saw a smile on the old lady's face. She guessed that it might be because the letter just received was from Sixth Sister.
Ba Niang brought the medicine to the bedside and handed it to Li: "Auntie, drink the medicine."
Li came back to her senses, folded the letter back into the envelope, and placed it under her pillow before taking the medicine.
Holding the medicine, Li looked up at her and warned her, "Don't go out alone. Let your mother and seventh sister do the laundry by the river."
Yu Ba Niang nodded: "I know."
After giving the instructions, Li turned back and took the medicine.
The medicine tastes bitter, but my heart feels sweet because of my daughter's letter.
*
Ten days passed in a flash. A few days before Yu Ying went to the county seat, he and Fu Wei received a message from Xin County.
It had been more than half a month since he left Shidi Village. The bully seemed to have discovered that he had only been to the Yu family for less than a moment and did not seem to care much about anyone in the Yu family. So he secretly bribed the Xin County Yamen official to go to the Yu County Yamen to use his connections to find out what Fu Wei was saying.
Let’s find out what Fu Wei thinks about Yu family’s concubine becoming a concubine.
Fu Wei replied that marriage was a matter of parents' decision and matchmaker's words. Whether he was to be a wife or a concubine, how could he have any say in the marriage of his wife's younger sister?
I tried to test the waters and got a pleasant surprise.
Doesn't this mean that the Yu family didn't tell Fu Wei about Yu Banniang?
Since it was not mentioned, it meant that the Yu family knew that it was useless to look for Fu Wei!
After getting the confirmation, he immediately asked the matchmaker to propose marriage.
A large group of people broke into the Yu family's house. Several of them stood on both sides of Yu Dalang's wife, who was overweight, and threatened Li to agree to the marriage.
As long as the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words are followed, then it will be done!
He threatened to take a concubine in five days, left two loads of grain, eight boxes of wedding cakes, and ten taels of silver as a betrothal gift, and then left the Yu family in a grand manner.
After they left, the Yu family was shrouded in a haze.
Yu Dalang's wife, Song, had a miscarriage, so Yu Dalang helped his wife back to the room to take her pulse and comfort her.
Yu Jiulang ran out to inquire, his face dark and gloomy: "Auntie, Sanniang, there are two people guarding the village."
Hearing this, Yang Xiaoniang hugged Ba Niang and burst into tears: "What a bastard! He's so old, but he still wants my Ba Niang, who hasn't even reached the age of marriage yet, to be his concubine. Isn't he afraid of shortening his life?"
Yu Banniang thought that she couldn't break down at this time and had to follow her brother-in-law's method, so tears welled up in her eyes for a moment, but she forced herself to hold them back.
But how can I contact my sixth sister and brother-in-law?
My sister had previously asked someone to go to Yu County to report the news, but who could she ask to report the news?
The Yu family is being watched now, and I’m afraid the letter will be intercepted before it even gets out!
Yu Banniang couldn't help but feel worried.
When it was dusk, Yu Jiulang went outside to fetch water and came back to prepare dinner, then he called Yu Banniang out of the house.
After the brother and sister stood in the corner, Yu Jiulang whispered, "Eighth sister, when I went out to fetch water just now, a man named Chen asked me to tell you something. He said he would go back to Yu County immediately and would be back in three days."
The problem of delivering the letter was solved, and Yu Ba Niang immediately covered her lips and cried with joy.
Chen Langjun stayed in Xinxian County, collecting evidence of the bully's crimes while also keeping an eye on the bully's whereabouts.
The bully asked someone to propose marriage, and he also came to Shidi Village.
After leaving a message for Yu Banniang, he immediately rode back to Yu County to inform Fu Wei.
Although Chen Langjun's father was a bandit, he was also a loyal and brave soldier. Influenced by his father and uncles, he also had a righteous and chivalrous heart.
What happened to Yu Jia Ba Niang would make an ordinary person angry, let alone Chen Langjun, who treated it as an urgent matter for his own sister and took it seriously.
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