Chapter 59 Chapter 59 If she were to pick out one thing, she would probably...
Is she really Qin Baixiang?
He Congde was a little hesitant to recognize him.
Jasmine led the smiling rabbits into the straw shed.
The hut smelled of mold, medicine, feces, and urine. Jasmine looked around the dim, cramped hut without changing her expression.
She saw Wutu's mother lying on the straw mat, and then glanced at the two men beside her.
Jasmine didn't want to talk to He Congde. The more she talked, the more flaws she would reveal.
But she had no other choice at the moment.
She went to see He Congde, and when He Congde found that she was looking at him, his heart suddenly tightened.
I heard her ask, "Sir, I heard that the charity granary is divided into men's and women's warehouses, but I remembered it wrongly?"
She calls herself a commoner?!
He Congde was stunned for a long moment before he came to his senses and understood what she meant. He asked the two men, "Why are you two here?"
The two men wore ingratiating smiles, and one of them explained, "My wife is here. She said she's scared to sleep alone."
Another person hurriedly agreed.
He Congde, full of authority, issued an order: "No one is allowed to break the rules. Those who break the rules will be expelled from the charity granary."
After saying this, the two men ran away in shame.
He Congde looked at Jasmine again and wanted to speak, but he saw that she had her back to him, listening to a few little beggars talking.
Jasmine always felt a burning sensation at her back. She turned around and said, "If my lord is busy, please do as you please."
He Congde: "I'll be waiting for you outside."
After saying this, He Congde turned around, bent down and walked out.
Jasmine was helpless.
After taking a quick look outside and confirming that the person was standing quite far away, Jasmine turned back and talked to Wutu and the others.
"Is Aunt Yufang awake?"
Aunt Yufang is Wutu's mother.
Wutu pouted and shook her head. "She's taken all the medicine, but she's not getting any better. She's even sleeping more than before. Sister, I think she's going to die."
Wutu couldn't help but dive into Jasmine's belly and whimper.
Jasmine glanced at Big Rabbit, who was looking back at her. They both understood each other.
Jasmine gave Big Rabbit some money and asked him to see a doctor, but the doctor said that the person would not survive the New Year.
But neither Jasmine nor Big Rabbit thought of telling Five Rabbit about this.
Unexpectedly, Wutu guessed it himself.
Jasmine didn't intend to comfort her anymore. Giving hope and then taking it away immediately was worse than having no hope at all.
Jasmine patted Wutu's head: "It's okay, you're not alone."
The big rabbit pulled the five rabbits apart and asked Jasmine to sit on their packages.
Big Rabbit and Second Rabbit were next to her. Big Rabbit asked nervously in a low voice, "Sister, did we cause you any trouble that day?"
Ertu: "After we left the city, the more I thought about it, the more scared I became. I was afraid something might have happened to my sister."
Jasmine shook her head: "You did a great job, you helped me a lot."
Big Rabbit and Second Rabbit finally breathed a sigh of relief and became proud again.
Jasmine thought she would run into them, so she brought a bag of silver with her when she went out. She hadn't dared to go out casually these past two days and was worried about how to give it to them. Now it was just right.
Jasmine took out the purse from her sleeve and stuffed it into Big Rabbit's pocket: "You don't have to return the purse to me. I just bought it on the street."
Big Rabbit pushed back, "Sister has helped us enough."
Jasmine forcefully stuffed it into her hand: "I'm afraid you'll betray me. This is hush money."
Ertu said anxiously, "We won't. We will never do that. It was my sister who gave us a chance to live. She gave us our names. That Duan girl thinks that just by saying a few nice words and giving us a few good meals, we will side with her and betray my sister. She's dreaming. She's not even worth a hair of my sister's."
Big Rabbit agreed firmly, "That's right."
Jasmine was happy, but she was also very embarrassed. It was a piece of cake for her, and she had a purpose in approaching them.
They were now returned to her.
Children are easy to deceive.
Jasmine: "I can't possibly help you gain a foothold in Kyoto. Keep this little bit of money. I won't have it anymore."
Both of them understood what it meant to be gone in the future.
This amount of money was enough for them to live a good life in a small county town for two years. They really needed it.
Without hesitation, Big Rabbit took it and put it in his arms. He then tightened his belt to ensure that the purse would not fall out.
"Take care of yourselves, I'm leaving."
Jasmine stood up and strode out of the hut.
The five rabbits and the six rabbits saw this and tried to chase after them, but were stopped by the big rabbit who was quick-witted.
Three Rabbits and Four Rabbits had just finished cooking the porridge and poured it into a shiny old bowl. When they were about to bring it into the house, they saw Jasmine coming out.
"elder sister!"
Santu shouted, and Jasmine just paused, without looking back, and then raised her foot forward.
Jasmine walked further and further away, and the six people watched her walk further and further away.
...
"Don't you have names?"
"I like to eat sweet potatoes, so my name is Sweet Potato."
“I like braised pork…”
"My name is Yin Zi..."
"You two don't look like a family at all. If you're a family, you should have similar names. Let me think...how about calling them Rabbits? How about Big Rabbit, Two Rabbit, Three Rabbit, Four Rabbit, Five Rabbit, Six Rabbit?"
"Then why not Big Rat, Two Rat, Six Rat? I think we are more like rats."
The elder sister rejected them outright: "No. Mice are ugly, dirty, and like to live in the gutter. They are no match for rabbits. You must be smart and cunning like rabbits, white, fat, and lovable."
...
The first time Jasmine saw Liutu was on the way back to Kyoto. She had been riding in a carriage for a few days and her waist and buttocks were really sore, so she and Shancha wandered around the county town to relieve the pain.
As a result, she ran into six people who tried to blackmail her, but Jasmine caught them in the act.
Perhaps because she had a good place to stay, she became more tolerant and generous. Not only did Jasmine not get angry, she even gave them the two taels of silver they were about to steal.
The six people looked at her as if she were a fool. But in Jasmine's eyes, the six people were just six little fools.
I thought we would never meet again, but unexpectedly, three days later, Jasmine met the three of them in another county.
The way they met was that Jasmine was almost robbed again. These six little fools seemed to only use the same trick.
Since she had nothing to do, Jasmine decided to chat with them.
After learning their names, Jasmine gave them new ones. She later learned that they were refugees from Zhongzhou, but before the drought in Zhongzhou, they were already orphaned beggars.
Only Wutu had a mother, but her mother couldn't bear to let her starve, so she starved herself. Over time, she fell ill.
When we met again, Jasmine had already been in Kyoto for two months.
She had changed a lot, and so had the six rabbits. They had become darker, smellier, and thinner.
If she hadn't been using them, Jasmine wouldn't have spent half the money. It was just a coincidence.
Of course, what Liutu and the others said in the Duke's Mansion was taught by Jasmine in advance.
Jasmine had never imagined that things would go so smoothly. She was also worried that Liutu might not be able to resist Madam Duan's temptation and betray her.
So she deliberately let Liutu tell Madam Duan the truest words, and asked Liutu to go to the Duke's Mansion and first say that he was coerced by Madam Duan, and if he couldn't stand it, he would just admit it.
This way, even if she really admitted it, Jasmine wouldn't be afraid.
From today on, she didn't plan to see Liutu again. Who knew if the Lu mother and daughter would secretly watch her and catch her in the act?
She had to be careful.
Good days don't come easily, and her better days are still to come. They can't be ruined by this little thing.
And she can't be ruined because of He Congde!
Jasmine looked at the crimson figure in front of her. Her steps became slower and slower, and the crimson figure was getting farther and farther away from her.
Just as I was secretly delighted, the person in front of me suddenly stopped.
Look back at her.
Jasmine pretended to greet the old woman who was sitting at the door of the straw hut watching the fun.
"Mother-in-law, have you eaten yet? Why haven't you eaten yet? You just received a bag of rice, right? Don't be frugal. If you eat it all, the court will give you more in a couple of days."
"Qin Baixiang."
"You heard me right. I was the one who distributed the rice bags to everyone today."
Seeing that she ignored him, He Congde couldn't help but step forward and grab her arm.
Jasmine turned her head to look at him, her face full of confusion as she asked, "What are you doing, sir?"
"Are you Qin Baixiang?"
"Qin... Baixiang?" Jasmine opened her eyes innocently and shook her head. "I'm not her. My name is Jasmine."
Shancha saw this and cursed inwardly, "Damn it!" How dare this beast in human form covet his aunt and ruin her life? She immediately broke He Congde's hand that was holding her aunt, stood in front of her and said fiercely, "Please avoid suspicion, my master is the aunt of Duke Yan."
He Congde just looked at Jasmine: "Are you really not Baixiang?"
Jasmine shook her head helplessly: "My Lord, you really have the wrong person."
He Congde made it clear that she was determined to continue the fight. Jasmine shunted her and walked faster and faster. He Congde then strode to catch up with her.
Shancha turned her back to Jasmine and backed away with her arms outstretched to block anyone.
He Congde chased after her and questioned her, "Madam, could you please tell me where you are from? Duke Yan has been back in Beijing for less than a year. When did you become a concubine? And if you are a concubine, why are you working here?"
Jasmine was stunned. He actually didn't believe it.
Shancha spoke for her, "Do we really need to lie to His Excellency? Or should we use Duke Yan to deceive His Excellency? How is that possible? My concubine was the one who entered the palace on the day the Duke returned to the capital. My concubine..."
Shancha was chattering away when she suddenly noticed the adult in front of her stopped moving, staring in the direction in front of her with a look of surprise.
Shancha turned around and saw that the Duke and Chunli were riding horses and standing not far behind them.
The concubine had already run to the Duke's horse. The Duke looked at the concubine, frowned, and asked, "Why are you so dirty?"
Although he disliked his concubine's dirtiness, the Duke still grabbed his concubine and held her in front of him.
Shancha's face lit up with joy. She no longer cared about the adults and ran forward hurriedly.
Chunli held out his hand to her, and Shancha said seriously, "And Xiuhong."
If Xiuhong hadn't been there, would she have been willing to ride with him? Chunli felt relieved, thinking that their last talk had been useful.
He didn't hesitate at the moment, and dismounted directly, then helped the two girls onto the horse while he led the horse to escort them.
The Duke did not turn his horse around and leave, but stayed where he was. Seeing that Lord He was hesitant to move, the Duke urged his horse forward.
"Master, aren't we going back?" Jasmine asked anxiously.
The Duke noticed his wife's nervousness, but he simply assumed she had had enough of this place. He explained, "Say hello to Lord He and leave."
Anyone who can make the Duke come forward to greet him personally must be a capable person.
The Duke gestured for his concubine to sit still, then dismounted and took the initiative to greet He Congde: "Master He, you have worked hard."
He Congde only then came back to his senses and hurriedly bowed, "My Lord, you are so polite."
The Duke added, "Leaving the charity granary to Lord He is a blessing for the victims. Lord He has a promising future. I will see you at court tomorrow morning."
He Congde bowed deeply again and said, "Thank you for your compliment, Duke. Please take care."
When the victims heard it was Duke Yan, they all thought he had come to see them. They emerged from their huts one after another, kneeling down to greet him, "We greet the Duke."
Someone excitedly rushed forward to speak, and as one ran, a group of people followed. Fortunately, the soldiers had already taken precautions. They formed several lines and trapped the people. The soldiers in the last row drew their swords as a warning.
The Duke said hurriedly, "There's no need for formalities. Just be at ease. The court will never abandon you."
Seeing that everyone was getting more excited, the Duke knew he couldn't stay for long.
After bowing to thank the victims on both sides, the Duke jumped on his horse swiftly, turned his horse around, and rode away quickly.
He Congde looked at the disappearing person, feeling lost.
Is she really not?
He would rather she wasn't.
But how could there be two people so similar in this world? And why did she avoid him?
...
Chunli let two soldiers ride on one horse, and he followed Shancha closely.
Shancha was speechless: "I can ride a horse, General Han knows that. Hey, I bumped into you. General, can you please stay away?"
Chunli had no choice but to slow down. Shancha gave the horse another kick, and the little black horse ran even faster, leaving the person behind by a long way.
Xiuhong was terrified and hugged her tightly, not daring to open her eyes.
Shancha glanced back, feeling extremely proud.
She recalled Chunli's words to her that day. He was a chatterbox, with a lot to say. Shancha only remembered one question he asked her: "Be with me, and you won't have to kneel before anyone here, and you won't be bullied. Isn't that great?"
Shancha thought to herself: Of course.
But if she agreed, what kind of person would she become? Although Shan Cha had been causing trouble for many people since she followed her aunt, she still had a conscience.
Besides, if he finds out what she and his aunt have done one day, will he really not blame her?
Of course that doesn't matter.
The important thing is that if she is with him, she will definitely live in the Han Mansion. The concubine has means, but she is so pitiful, let alone her.
Maybe as soon as she entered the Han Mansion, Chun Li left, and she was sold out or beaten to death.
Could Chunli kill his parents to avenge her?
Shancha didn't tell Chunli this.
She wasn't going to say it either.
Anyway, she could hide for a while. She heard that the Han family was arranging a marriage for him, and once the marriage was settled, he probably wouldn't bother her anymore.
...
Afraid that his concubine might get the news, the Duke did not ask on the way. He waited until he returned home to ask about his concubine's situation today.
Jasmine told the truth. No need to exaggerate, she was pitiful enough just telling it like it was.
The Duke suddenly realized, "No wonder Qiang'er is so shabby."
When Jasmine looked in the mirror, she realized how miserable she looked. Her first thought was, how could He Congde still recognize her?
Jasmine was in no hurry to wash up. She acted extremely pitiful and pulled her master's hand: "Can I not go tomorrow?"
The Duke also wanted to say something. Since his aunt had mentioned it, he nodded and said, "Okay."
Jasmine's eyes lit up, and she asked again, "Then can we not go there anymore?"
The Duke nodded again in a friendly manner.
He had originally thought that with his aunt and ten servants helping out, it wouldn't be too hard on her. He had underestimated the hardships of the charity granary.
After all, my aunt is a woman, how can she do heavy work like carrying things? Just listening to what my aunt said just now, the Duke was already feeling very guilty.
Jasmine hadn't expected her grandfather to be so easy to talk to. She had been so tactful.
Jasmine let go of her master's hand and stood up: "I'll go wash up. Master, do you want to...come with me?"
She wanted to slap herself. The last sentence was unnecessary!
She was so weak that she could just lie down on the floor and fall asleep. It was impossible for her to serve this master today.
But it's hard to undo what's done.
"Jiang'er, go first. I have something to do."
Jasmine turned to look at him stiffly in disbelief.
When Jasmine came out of the shower, she found two extra blankets on the bed.
Her grandfather was not at home, so Jasmine climbed into the inner bed and buried her face in the quilt without moving.
When she woke up again, it was already early the next morning. Her grandfather was still not there, but the bedding was not very neatly made. He must have come back to sleep last night, but she was so deep in sleep that she didn't notice.
Right now, Jasmine only hopes for one thing: He Congde please don't come looking for her!
But the more she thought about it, the more she felt that He Congde would.
He Congde indeed became an official.
I just saw him in Hengyang Prefecture half a year ago. I didn't expect that he had already established a firm foothold in Kyoto City in just half a year.
Mr. and Mrs. He should be here.
Jasmine recalled that half of the townspeople praised him at that time, and felt that Mr. He's son must be better than Mr. He.
Jasmine certainly thought so, which led her to rush to confess her love to He Congde when she learned that a matchmaker was coming to the He family to propose marriage.
If the Duke and the people in the Duke's Mansion knew about this, she might really be kicked out.
The Duke treated her very well, so well that Jasmine could not find any fault with him. But that did not mean that the Duke could tolerate her concubine being greedy, vain, and morally corrupt, and that she had had an affair with someone in the past.
Not to mention adding all these together, even if she took just one of them, she would probably die.
Jasmine was so worried that she couldn't enjoy her meals the whole day.
After much thought, Jasmine felt that He Congde must have recognized her. If she didn't explain it to him, it would be more likely to cause trouble if He Congde came to her again rashly.
Jasmine decided to find an opportunity to go out and talk things out with him.
She had confessed her feelings to him, but He Congde didn't respond and later disappeared without a word. She didn't owe him anything.
If they could make things clear, they would both be able to let it go.
Going out to talk to a man for no reason could easily lead to trouble. Jasmine planned to wait for her grandfather to return, then ask to go to the charity granary to help out, so that she could meet He Congde naturally.
It was just that when the Duke returned that day, he was filled with a murderous aura. Jasmine had never seen him so angry before. She was so frightened that she didn't even dare to get close to him, let alone make any requests.
The guilty concubine was just hesitating to say a few words to test the waters when another flurry of footsteps approached the main courtyard. Jasmine turned around and saw the old lady, accompanied by the eldest and fourth young masters' wives, hurried over.
The old lady rushed straight to the Duke, grabbed his sleeve, and begged, "Erlang, for mother's sake, will you please spare the fourth son?"
The Duke's face was cold as he asked, "Did Mother know this a long time ago?"
The old lady shook her head repeatedly: "I don't know, I don't know. If I knew, how could I allow him to be so presumptuous? Even if I tied him up at home, I would never let him make a mistake!"
The Duke stared at the old lady for a moment. Then he looked at the fourth young master's wife and asked, "Does the fourth brother's wife know?"
The Fourth Young Master's wife was certainly aware of this. Otherwise, the Old Madam wouldn't have known about it so quickly and rushed to the main courtyard.
Seeing the Fourth Young Master's wife lowering her head, the Duke immediately understood.
He looked at the old lady and motioned her to sit down, but she refused to cooperate. She even threatened, "If you don't give me a clear answer today, I will never leave."
The eldest young lady stood aside, too lazy to pretend. She snorted inwardly.
When she asked her to save the eldest master, he dismissed her with just two words. Now that it was the fourth master's turn, he was working hard.
He always talks about fairness and equal treatment. How ridiculous!
The Duke said, "Mother, how can Zifu spare the Fourth Brother? He bribed four suspects to defile the Duan family's wife. Just because he failed doesn't mean he's innocent. Mother should be thankful that the Duan family's wife is safe and that the Fourth Brother didn't die. Letting him go is impossible."
Jasmine was horrified. The Fourth Master had made a mistake, and the Old Madam had personally begged him, yet he could still say such cruel words.
Then she changed...
Jasmine didn't dare to think further.
The old lady knew she was in the wrong. The Fourth Master was guilty. She could not think of any excuses and could only cry out, "For mother's sake, can't Erlang be spared?"
"No." The Duke said these two words in a stern and impartial manner.
"Then it will be okay for mother to kneel down to you!" The old lady said she was going to kneel, thinking that the Duke would support her, but he didn't. It was Nanny Qian who saw that something was wrong and quickly supported the old lady.
The old lady gritted her teeth and actually knelt down.
Yan Ke stared at the scene in front of him in shock, too angry to utter a word. He simply walked into the house and locked the door.
Jasmine looked at the old lady and then at the door, then she knelt down as well, crawling on the ground, intending to wait until the old lady left before getting up again.
But who would have thought that the old lady would not get up at all? She even kept muttering to herself at the main courtyard door, "Mother, I think I'm being shameless today by coming to Erlang and asking him to do something for my sake, but I'm your stepmother and haven't taken care of you in all these years. Mother knows I have no right to ask you for help."
There was no sound in the room.
The old lady and Nanny Qian exchanged a glance and continued, "But Erlang, even if you don't consider mother's sake, you should at least think about your fourth brother. When he was little, he always wanted to play with you. Do you remember? Back then, mother scolded him and beat him, telling him not to come to you. She told him that his second brother needed to learn some skills. Only after he had mastered them could we play with him and take care of him. Only then did he obey. Erlang, do you still remember? When he was little, you held him in your arms and asked mother when your little brother would grow up. You said you would teach him martial arts when he grew up. Do you remember, Erlang?"
There was still no movement from inside the door.
The courtyard was silent for a moment.
Jasmine didn't look up, but she felt that the old lady was staring at her. Jasmine pretended to be dead.
Jasmine was thinking quickly about how she would refuse if the old lady asked her to persuade the Duke.
Before Fazi could think of it, he heard the old lady getting up and leaving.
"Auntie, the person is gone." Shancha reminded in a low voice.
Jasmine stood up and stared at the courtyard gate for a long time before she stood up with the help of Xiuhong and Shancha.
She hurried to knock on the door: "Master, the old lady is gone."
The door suddenly opened, revealing the Duke standing by it.
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