"After Master's leg was broken, the county magistrate sent fifty taels of silver. Master refused to accept the silver, but I did accept it because I wanted to help him heal his illness. When Master found out, he was furious and made me kneel for three days and three nights, but I ultimately lost the fifty taels. Ma Twelve stole the silver and used it as a token of his loyalty to join the clan leader."
That's why she didn't redeem Ma Twelve.
Shopkeeper Wang gnashed his teeth and said, "This kind of traitorous villain who sells out his master for personal gain deserves to be reduced to a horse slave and be whipped every day!"
Lou Yunchun hated himself for not kicking the horse a dozen or more times.
Xu Jiang curled his lips and continued, "To treat Master's illness, I sold off the books in the bookshop at a low price, leaving only a few of Master's treasured classics, which helped Master survive for half a year. His injuries were too severe, and he was depressed and desperately seeking relief, and soon he showed signs of death. Master knew his time was short, but he was actually happy and cheered up, making plans for me. He asked someone to sell the bookshop, used the money to buy a donkey and a cart, and then found Master's great master and asked him to smooth things over, so that my register could be moved out of the government office, and I could sort out his collection of classics and take them with me when he passed away, leaving Qianzhong and the Xu family."
"The night Master passed away, his appetite suddenly improved." Xu Jiang smiled as she looked at the bread on the table. "He kept clamoring for bread and wine. At the time, I didn't understand what a last glimmer of hope meant, so I thought he was getting better. For his health, I only gave him bread and didn't let him drink. He scolded me and sent me back to my room to sleep. Because I had been taking care of him non-stop, I slept soundly that night, and when I woke up, he was gone."
Xu Jiang still remembered a dream she had that night. She dreamed that her master was sitting in a pile of white clouds and lecturing her.
The master first scolded her for being lazy and stupid, and then told her lovingly and reluctantly that he had transcended the eight sufferings of the mortal world and had attained great freedom. Now he was about to leave on a cloud, so he came to say goodbye to her and asked her to take good care of herself.
She was awakened by a dream, looked up and saw the sky was pale. She ran to her master's room without even wearing shoes or socks. When she broke into the room, there was no life inside.
The master passed away peacefully, holding a suicide note for her in his hand. The note explained his afterlife, arranged her future, and left eight words at the end.
Life and death are transformed into qi, just follow nature.
Upon learning of Xu Yuan's passing, the swarm of flies that infested the Xu household swarmed in, seemingly intent on devouring his remains. Xu Jiang, taking advantage of the night, burned his remains in accordance with her master's will, along with the old house, sending it to the underworld, giving her master a place to rest after his tiresome wanderings in the azure and the underworld.
The raging fire buried Xu Jiang's only relative, burned down her home, and also burned away half of her soul.
She drove the donkey cart unskillfully, rushed into the inky night, and rushed towards an unknown foreign land, becoming a wandering ghost.
She came into the world naked, and was fortunate to have a teacher, a father, and a not-so-complete family, but in the end she lost them all and turned back into the orphan girl who was abandoned naked in the ginger field.
"After taking care of my master's funeral, I left and never went back." Xu Jiang exhaled slowly. After telling these things, she seemed to have a part of her body drained away, and she felt a little cold.
Shopkeeper Wang was silent for a long time before he asked, "How old were you then?"
Xu Jiang came back to his senses and said with a faint smile, "Fourteen."
Not yet of age.
Lou Yunchun finally couldn't help but hold her hand, but was surprised to find that her hand was so cold that he trembled.
Shopkeeper Wang burst into tears and beat his chest, crying, "My sister, it must have been so difficult for you to get to where you are now!"
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