The water broke
Ma Tongguang took two steps back, his expression dazed. "The plum blossoms are still there... the plum blossoms are still there..." He muttered a few words, his steps becoming chaotic. Suddenly, he looked up to the sky and laughed, "Hahaha! Hahahaha——"
He looked at Wen Jingzhao again, his eyes were bloodshot, as if burning with fire. He stared at Wen Jingzhao for an unknown amount of time, then waved his hand and threw the hammer to the ground with a muffled sound.
Ma Tongguang left, and the banquet ended before it even began.
The subordinates and servants looked at each other in bewilderment. Without the host, the banquet ended hastily.
Wen Jingzhao was taken to Ma Tongguang's study. What caught his eye were the densely packed bookshelves on the wall, which were filled with scrolls. A layer of silk paper was spread on the ink-colored desk, and a bunch of blooming wintersweets were placed in a vase in the corner. The fresh scent wafted in his face, which was very elegant.
The quiet space was filled with the scent of ink and paper. Ma Tongguang stood with his back to him, half of his body hidden in the shadows.
"How many people from your house are here?" Ma Tongguang asked him after sitting down.
"Fourteen people, four women and ten men." They suffered countless casualties along the way, and those who stayed behind were all those who managed to finish the journey.
Ma Tongguang pondered for a while, "Those who were exiled from the capital, the men were sent to the army, the women were made prostitutes, and their treatment was inhumane. This is not difficult. I will tell them to look after them."
Wen Jingzhao bowed deeply and said, "Thank you so much, sir! I will never forget this."
"Don't be so quick to thank me." Ma Tongguang rubbed the bead. "As for you...you can stay in my house and be a military advisor. That will be considered as fulfilling your father's dying wish."
Hearing Jingzhao's reluctance to stand up, Ma Tongguang showed an unfriendly expression and raised his voice, "Why? You don't want to?"
"No, I'm certainly willing to do that. However, there are three people who have done me a favor. Could you please take them away from the army?"
Wen Jingzhao looked up. Because he had been tossing and turning for many days, his face was thin and angular, and he looked a bit like Wen Dingan.
Ma Tongguang snorted coldly, saying he was pushing his luck. After a while, he stood up and approached. Looking at his face, he didn't agree or refuse. "Tsk tsk, you're still far from being a military advisor."
It's dark,
He Yingchun and her mother dragged their exhausted bodies back to the brothel.
The two walked very slowly. The narrow streets and the mottled and faded walls had a dark and old atmosphere.
The dim light cast mottled shadows. The window frames were broken, revealing the traces of time. The room was filled with mixed odors that were unbearable.
Night is everyone's nightmare, and everyone is on edge.
A new person moved in with them, named Yuling, the same Yuling that someone found on the first night.
"I heard that she pissed off Captain Chen, who loved her so much that he even gave her a single room. But she didn't appreciate it and was so arrogant! Now she's feeling wronged right here with us!" An older woman spat out some melon seed shells and chatted gossip with the people next to her.
He Yingchun also looked at Yuling. It was no wonder that she was favored. She was beautiful, indeed, and had an extraordinary temperament.
In the dirty and old environment, she is like a lotus that emerges from the mud without being stained, with long hair like a waterfall, a slender figure and clear eyes.
Dressed in simple and elegant cloth, she was concentrating on reading a poem. Although the surroundings were dirty and crowded, she felt fresh and bright around her.
"Tsk, you're just pretending!" A woman took the oil lamp next to her. "Let me use it first! I need to mend my clothes."
Without light, she could only read laboriously in the faint moonlight. Someone complained about the cold and "snapped" the window. She slowly closed the book and sat there blankly, as if all the energy in her body had been drained.
He Yingchun walked towards her with lamp oil and said, "Here, use it first." Her eyes were clearly black and white, and when she looked at people, her gaze was clear, simple and pure, which made people feel good about her.
Yu Ling smiled like a blooming flower and thanked her in a low voice.
"It's okay." He Yingchun sat there watching her read.
Yuling really likes reading. She is very engrossed and lively when reading. He Yingchun thinks that she is just as lively as when she cooks.
After looking for a while, her eyelids drooped and she felt sleepy. She went to fetch water to wash her face. The well water was as cold as ice. She washed shiveringly. When she came back, Yuling was gone. Only a book was left, and it had been stepped on by people walking back and forth.
He Yingchun hurried over and picked it up. It was a collection of poems. It seemed that Yu Ling cherished this collection very much and had read it many times. It was yellowed but still clean.
The nanny came over and said, "Yuling was just taken away. From what Sister Feng said, it seems that she went to do that." That means to receive customers. The nanny really couldn't bring herself to say it, so she kept saying "that".
"She didn't want to go, she was dragged away." Mammy lowered her voice. "Look, that woman is still saying that Yuling used to be the daughter of a high-ranking official, but later her property was confiscated and she was exiled. She said that she angered some captain, and he stopped protecting her, so those people were like wolves seeing meat, targeting her one by one."
He Yingchun brushed off the dirt that had been stepped on it, put the collection of poems in her arms, and planned to return it to her later.
After a while, several more women left. Fengjie smiled and said they were old acquaintances, with a cold smile on her face.
The women who followed her had empty eyes and wooden expressions, as if they were used to it. The others stared at the door and huddled under their quilts, as if they might be the next one, and everyone was in danger.
In the second half of the night, someone pushed the door open and came in, then slowly fell down. There was a smell of blood.
Then there was fire spreading from outside.
He Yingchun was just shaken and woke up in a daze. Who would have turned on the lights in the middle of the night? He Yingchun rubbed her eyes and took a closer look.
It's not an oil lamp, it's clearly a flickering flame.
In the firelight, a woman was kneeling in front of the door, her clothes were torn, her face and body were covered with scars, the slap marks on her face and the fingerprints on her neck were the most obvious, her hair was disheveled, her face was pale, and her face was covered with tears.
Her eyes were empty and confused. Every wound was a mark of the suffering and torture she had endured, and the blood was the wailing and cry from deep in her heart.
He Yingchun felt her deep helplessness and despair, "Yuling..."
“Ah!!! Fire! It’s on fire!!”
"Hurry! Hurry! There's a fire! Put out the fire! Put out the fire!!"
"Fire! Where did the fire come from! Yu Ling! You bastard! Are you crazy?"
......
They were all made of cloth and wood, and the bedding, doors and windows caught fire at a touch. In the blazing fire, Yu Ling stood up and walked step by step into the even more intense fire.
"The wind whistles, my heart sways with it, the rain falls with melancholy. The past is gone, this life is miserable, a slave, a prostitute, a prisoner, a maid. In the next life... in the next life, I would rather be an animal or a tree than suffer the humiliation of a woman..."
She leaped into the sea of fire. He Yingchun pounced on her but failed to grab any of her clothes. He only heard her wailing in pain.
"Yuling! I..." haven't returned the book to you yet...
In the lonely night, the fire was blazing, as red as a lantern and as scorching as blood.
"Yingchun!! Yingchun!! Go away! Go away!" Mom hugged her around the waist, and both of them were choked by the fire and could not straighten their backs.
"Cover your mouth and nose!" He Yingchun came to her senses and shouted at her mother.
The smell of smoke grew stronger, and my vision gradually became blurry...
Exchange, Spiritual Spring Water! "Ding! You have exchanged for Spiritual Spring Water, your points are 28."
"Mom, use this wet cloth!!" He Yingchun shouted, and helped her mother run to the door anxiously.
However, a group of people were running towards the door and blocking it. As the number of people increased and time dragged on, the beams fell down.
Wen Jingzhao was riding a horse at this moment, galloping over. He held his broken ribs with one hand and pulled the reins with the other, "Gee! Gee!"
"Wait for me!! No!!! Wait for me!!" There was a young soldier on horseback chasing him behind him. He was sent by Ma Tongguang to help Wen Jingzhao lead the people.
The horse's hooves were about to kick up sparks, and Wen Jingzhao's eyelids were twitching. He felt that something was happening, and seeing the fire from afar, he thought it was not good.
"Fuck! What's going on? Is there a fire in the barracks?" The young soldier's name was Zhang Chao. "Huh? Looks like it's from the brothel! That's not you... Hey! Slow down!!"
Wen Jingzhao was the first to rush to the brothel. "Have you seen He Yingchun? Have you seen He Yingchun?"
He pulled someone over and asked, but everyone was busy running for their lives.
"Who? I don't know!"
“I didn’t see it!”
"I don't know. I don't know."
"Have you seen He Yingchun?"
"Who? He Yingchun? Wen Jingzhao? Ah!! It's you! Hurry up and get me out!" Wen Wanrou desperately grabbed Wen Jingzhao, "This place is not for human beings, hurry up and get me out!"
"Where's He Yingchun?" Wen Jingzhao lifted her up. "Where's she?"
Wen Wanrou's nose was snotty and tears were streaming down her face. "I...I don't know. I saw her at the door just now. I don't know if she ran out!"
Wen Jingzhao poured a bucket of water on himself without hesitation and rushed to the fire alone.
"Fuck! Are you crazy?" Zhang Chao only had time to see his back as he rushed in, and shouted.
The fire was raging as he broke through the door. Smoke billowed and the sweat on his forehead evaporated instantly.
The wound on his face began to burn, fire licked his hair, and a burning smell came.
finally,
He saw the two people across the fire. He Yingchun covered her mouth and supported her mother. She couldn't open her eyes due to the smoke. When she saw him, she stood there in a daze.
Wen Jingzhao rushed over and was hit by the falling door frame, which shook his spine. His broken ribs were stuck in the flesh, and he felt a sharp pain. He steadied himself.
"Hurry! Go!" he roared with difficulty.
He first looked around. The door was blocked and the window was the weakest. He hit the window with his elbow, and He Yingchun also pushed hard. In a few seconds, the window was smashed open.
Mum had inhaled the most smoke and was already unconscious. She was getting heavier and heavier. Wen Jingzhao dragged her out first.
"Walk!"
The fire behind them grew stronger and stronger, burning their backs. Wen Jingzhao grabbed He Yingchun's hand and said, "Jump out!"
"good!!"
The two men rushed forward suddenly, and the fire behind them swept over, and they landed on the ground with a "bang".
Finally escaped from the sea of fire.
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