Chapter 152 In front, not far ahead, there is a woman lying there!
As the saying goes, it is easier to go up the mountain than to go down.
Qingyun picked up two thick, straight branches from somewhere. He broke off the extra twigs and leaves, pounded them on the ground a few times, and when he felt they were stable, he handed them to Rong and Su Ying, saying, "Second Madam, Cousin, these branches will help you two clear the way."
Su Ying, who was still immersed in the nun's words, was suddenly drawn back to reality when she saw the branch handed to her by Qingyun.
Before she could say anything, Taoxi reached out and took it for her.
"Miss, this branch is very thick. I will use it to support myself. You just hold my hand."
Taoxi didn't even look at Qingyun, and turned directly to Su Ying and said.
Qingyun listened, and though she didn't say anything, she felt a little dissatisfied. He had clearly stroked the branch from top to bottom, knowing exactly where the thick and rough spots were. But it sounded as if she thought he was unreliable and not as careful as she was, so she secretly wrinkled her nose at Taoxi.
Unexpectedly, this little action was seen by Su Ying. She took Taoxi's hand and thanked Qingyun, which made Qingyun blush.
The weather was really bad. As the five of us had just descended the mountaintop and reached the most difficult part of the mountainside, we could hear the sound of rain. The forest in the mountain was dense, and the raindrops hitting the leaves were only audible, not too heavy.
Qingyun volunteered to run all the way back to the academy to get an umbrella, but halfway through, he turned back in panic.
"In front, not far ahead, there is a woman lying there!"
Upon hearing this, Su Ying and Rong looked at each other.
Yandang is a famous sacred mountain in Zhejiang Province. Scholars and officials often come to climb the mountain with their families for fun, but it is rare for women to go up the mountain alone.
Their hearts tightened, and they guessed that something might have happened to a villager from the foot of the mountain while going up the mountain. Without hesitation, they immediately rushed forward under Qingyun's leadership.
The rain was getting heavier and the road beneath their feet was becoming slippery and muddy. Qingyun was leading the way while warning people to be careful. Su Ying and the others followed closely along the path where Qingyun had stepped.
Finally, from a distance, a woman in pink was seen collapsed in the bushes, her clothes half wet, motionless.
"Girl, girl."
Rong stepped forward and saw that the woman's chest was still rising and falling. She felt relieved and ordered Xiu Yu to help her sit up. She called out to her softly while looking at her carefully.
After taking a good look, Rong's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't help but hesitate.
There was a faint trace of red on the woman's forehead, and some traces of makeup on her face.
One can tell at a glance that the material of her clothes is of good quality, but the collar is open and messy, revealing a large area of snow-white skin in front of her neck, which is very tempting.
As Xiu Yu helped her up, people couldn't help but notice that there was a hollow gold hairpin inserted diagonally in her messy bun, with two red beads hanging from the end. The two beads swayed gently, which was particularly eye-catching in the mist of rain.
Whether it's her clothes or her jewelry, she doesn't look like a decent woman.
It was not known whether it was Rong's call that woke her up, or whether she regained some consciousness with Xiu Yu's support, but the woman's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.
She looked around fearfully, as if frightened. When she saw Xiuyu, who was hugging her, and Rong and Suying, who were beside her, were all women, her tense body relaxed slightly. She looked at Rong and whispered, "Madam, save me," before fainting again.
Seeing her faint again, Rong didn't have time to think about it and ordered Qingyun to carry her on his back. The group stumbled and finally returned to the academy.
Since the founding of the academy, the two elders of the Rong family have adhered to the idea of "teaching without distinction". As long as one passes the academy's teaching examination, they will be treated equally regardless of their background.
Therefore, the two elders did not say much about the unidentified woman brought back by their daughter and granddaughter, and let Rong arrange to rescue her.
Fortunately, the woman was not seriously injured. After she was changed into dry clothes and fed a bowl of sweet porridge, she gradually recovered.
"You fainted alone in the forest. We couldn't just ignore you if we saw you."
As she spoke, Rong took a look at the old clothes she had changed into and the hollow gold hairpin on them. She then took the purse that Xiuyu had handed her, placed it in her hand, and continued, "I won't ask where you come from or where you're going. Take this purse, and after tonight, you can leave!"
When the woman heard this, she burst into tears. Despite her frail body, she stood up and kowtowed three times to Rong and Su Ying. She finally let go of the wariness she had originally had.
"Madam, Miss, my maid's name is Honghua, and she lives in Yongjia."
Seeing this, Rong asked Xiuyu to help Honghua back to the bed, but Honghua refused and preferred to kneel down to finish what she had to say.
"The madam must have guessed from my clothes and jewelry that I wasn't from a good family, so she didn't dare keep me for long." Honghua began to sob as she spoke, "I used to be from a good family. My mother and father were farmers in the mountains. In the spring, they would climb the mountain early in the morning to dig up good bamboo shoots. They fell from the mountain and died."
"I have an older brother who married and came down from the mountains to make a living. But before my parents were buried, the first thing he asked was where the family's savings were, without even a last glance at them. I later learned that he hadn't made much money since leaving the mountains, his sister-in-law ran off with someone, and he himself had developed a gambling addiction."
As if recalling what happened that day, Honghua was overcome with grief, her voice becoming even more tearful. "There was nothing in the house to begin with, but he dug like a madman, swearing to dig three feet deep. Old clothes and rags were scattered all over the floor, and broken bowls and pots were thrown everywhere, for fear that my parents might have hidden something that he didn't know about. Finally, when he saw that he couldn't find anything, his red eyes fixed on me."
Honghua reached out and grasped her own skirt, as if that could staunch the palpitations of fear that were brewing in her heart. She said, "The next day, he brought the madam to our house. She took one look at me and smiled, saying I could fetch a good price, but I couldn't stay in Yongjia any longer. I had to come to Yueqing to study for a while before being sent to Hangzhou. When my brother heard that he could get more money, he signed and sold me without a word!"
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