Blocked by the crowd, Wei Hanzhang could not see the woman's face, but the familiar feeling made her look up at the plaque as if possessed.
The moment the three words "Jiaofangsi" came into his sight, Wei Hanzhang's head exploded.
"Stop! Stop!" She didn't even bother to take off her veil and jumped off the carriage which had not yet stopped.
I suppressed my panic and trotted towards the center of the crowd. The ominous premonition became stronger and stronger, until I pushed through the crowd and saw that familiar face with my own eyes.
"Rouniang, Rouniang!" Wei Hanzhang walked in quickly, squatted down, and held Cao Xinrou on his lap, ignoring the blood all over her head. He covered the wound on the back of her head with his hand, and said to Luzhu who was following behind him, "Quick, go get a doctor."
Wei Hanzhang's hands were shaking. He didn't understand why Rou Niang jumped off the building. The last time he saw her, her face was rosy and she didn't look like she had any intention of dying.
"Don't...Ranran, don't hug me." Cao Xinrou was still conscious, her lips slightly opening and closing, her breath so weak that it could hardly be heard amid the noisy crowd.
Wei Hanzhang hurriedly leaned over to listen.
Cao Xinrou reached out and stroked her face: "I have become a slave... You shouldn't... have anything to do with me. It will... hinder your marriage... Let me go."
"No! I'm not afraid of being implicated by you. Rou Niang, you are not cheap. You are the best girl in Xuzhou City."
Wei Hanzhang cried and shook his head, refusing to let go: "I said I would rescue you, why did you want to die... Only if you are alive can you have a chance to get out of here..."
The breath of the person in his arms became weaker and weaker. Wei Hanzhang could no longer speak and shouted to Lu Zhu behind him: "Where's the doctor!"
"I've sent someone to invite him. The pharmacy is far away..." Luzhu also knew Cao Xinrou. She said anxiously, "There should be a doctor in this parish."
Jiaofangsi was the official kiln of the imperial court. The prostitutes there were all family members of former high-ranking officials. Their fair skin was well-maintained much better than that of the ordinary girls in brothels.
Even the censors would not report impeachment for having fun here. Many officials visited brothels openly. Is there any greater pleasure in the world than sleeping with the wives and daughters of political enemies? Some wealthy merchants and officials were also very happy to spend a lot of money to sleep with these girls from wealthy families who used to have to go through formalities when meeting them.
In short, this is a den of spending money by officials and wealthy businessmen, so it is impossible that there is no doctor here. No one has come out to treat her for such a long time, obviously because they don't want to waste time treating the daughter of a convicted official who is already determined to die.
After Wei Hanzhang figured it out, he gently handed Cao Xinrou in his arms to Luzhu, then stood up and went to the Jiaofangsi to call for help.
The Jiaofangsi is different from other brothels. It is also open during the day. Now that something happened outside, many of the young men who were seeking pleasure inside came out.
When they saw Wei Hanzhang, a girl whose attire was obviously not that of an ordinary girl, walking in, they were all shocked.
She was dressed up for the banquet today, with a bright red trumpet creeper painted on her forehead, her eyebrows as dark as distant ink, her eyes flushed, and tears streaming out one by one.
There were traces of blood on his flawless white face, and his whole body had a kind of broken and tortured beauty.
It's so frightening to watch.
I took just one step forward when I saw a familiar figure in the crowd.
Wei Hanzhang's expression suddenly changed: "Gu Yundan! Why are you here?"
She walked over quickly, grabbed his sleeve and asked, "Why are you here? Did Rou Niang's jumping off the building have anything to do with you?"
Gu Yundan was about twenty years old, obviously at the prime of his life, but when Wei Hanzhang pulled him, he almost fell to the ground.
As if he had just reacted, he pushed away the person in front of him, gritted his teeth and rushed towards Cao Xinrou with a pale face.
Wei Hanzhang staggered after being pushed, and a man beside her supported her and whispered, "Girl, be careful."
She didn't have time to thank him and was about to continue asking Gu Yun for his order when she heard an old voice behind her.
Wei Hanzhang turned around and saw an old man with white hair and beard, carrying a medicine box on his shoulder. She showed joy on her face and hurriedly said, "Quick, save her."
The old man bowed slightly and then squatted down to feel the pulse and diagnose the patient...
Wei Hanzhang squatted down and asked, "How is it? Is there any hope?"
Cao Xinrou was unconscious at this moment. The blood on the back of her head was stopped by a handkerchief, but the injury was very serious...
The old man felt the pulse for a long time, his expression slightly restrained, and then he put three fingers on Cao Xinrou's neck. After a long time, he sighed and said, "Bury her properly."
Wei Hanzhang's body swayed slightly, and his mind was in a daze.
Dead?
Is Cao Xinrou, who always spoke in a gentle and soft voice, dead?
To die in this Jiaofangsi is not even a dignified death. She jumped down wearing a thin veil that barely covers her body like a prostitute, and was watched and amused by so many people.
Wei Hanzhang was a little breathless, and didn't understand why such a good sister died so miserably.
Gu Yundan seemed to be more shocked than her. He shook Cao Xinrou's body like crazy for a long time, and finally picked her up horizontally. He was stopped by the doctor from the Music Bureau who arrived late.
If you are born in the Jiaofangsi, you will be a corpse of the Jiaofangsi even after you die.
If you really want to take the person away, you have to wait until they confirm that the person is dead, wrap the body in a straw mat and throw it into a mass grave, and then pick up the body.
Wei Hanzhang stood up shakily, and in a daze he watched Gu Yundan and the people from the Jiaofangsi snatch Cao Xinrou's body.
Then I watched as Cao Xinrou was diagnosed dead by the doctor from the Jiaofangsi, and then she was wrapped in a straw mat and carried away...
Her eyes went dark and she was supported by Luzhu.
Luzhu whispered, "Miss, we should go back home."
Their carriage was the last one to fall behind, and no one noticed it because they didn't catch up in time, but the incident here was quite serious. The carriage that Wei Hanzhang was riding in had the Wei family emblem engraved on it, and anyone who was observant would probably have known her identity a long time ago.
The legitimate daughter of a marquisate actually called herself a sister with a prostitute from the Music Bureau. In order to save a woman of low status, she wanted to enter the Music Bureau regardless of the consequences. Either of these things could ruin Wei Hanzhang's reputation.
Wei Hanzhang also knew that what he did today was inappropriate, but he witnessed with his own eyes that his former accomplice was in danger of death, so how could he remain calm and protect himself?
The old man carrying the medicine box stood up, bowed to Wei Hanzhang again, and asked, "The girl doesn't look well. Would you like me to feel her pulse?"
Although he didn't know why this person was so polite, Wei Hanzhang didn't bother to ask more questions at the moment, and whispered, "No need to bother. Thank you for your help today."
Regardless of whether he was saved or not, at least he did not stand by and watch him die.
The old man smiled and said, "I am following the orders of my master. If the girl wants to thank someone, why not thank my master instead?"
The evening spring breeze blew by, waking Wei Hanzhang's thoughts. She seemed to have a sense of something in her heart. She looked up in one direction and saw a man standing there, looking at her gently.
It was the man I had met at Cao's villa in Xuzhou.
(End of this chapter)