Chapter 156: The Emperor's Guard
Jiang Shuyi was placed in the county government office.
The county magistrate was of the seventh rank and his salary was not high, but the backyard of the county government office was decorated with carved beams and painted buildings, rockery and flowing water, and the servants were all well-dressed, almost like a marquis's house in the capital.
After Jiang Shuyi took a flower petal bath with the help of her maid, she lay on the soft, comfortable, clean and tidy bed, finally making up for the sleep she had missed last night.
Jiang Shuyi slept until dark. When she woke up, she saw Cui'er lying on the side of the bed. She was not sleeping, but just looking at her with her eyes open.
Seeing that she was awake, Cui Er immediately stood up and looked outside. After making sure that no one could hear her, she leaned close to Jiang Shuyi's ear and whispered anxiously, "This county magistrate is not a good person. When I went out for dinner just now, I saw them locking several tied-up women in the woodshed. It was scary."
Jiang Shuyi's heart suddenly tightened.
She looked at the furnishings around her and felt a little nervous. Many of these things caught her eye, but they were definitely not something she could afford with her salary as a county magistrate.
I can't be so unlucky, I just got out of the tiger's den and fell into the wolf's den...
Jiang Shuyi took a deep breath and whispered, "Pretend you don't know for now. He didn't touch me. He must be afraid of my husband. When I return to my husband, I will tell him everything that happened here. He will deal with it."
Cui Er was about to nod in agreement when she heard a man's chuckle behind her: "That won't do, ma'am."
Jiang Shuyi raised her head suddenly, and when she saw the smiling face of the county magistrate, she was instantly horrified.
It's over. It's completely over.
The county magistrate waved a folding fan painted with pink peonies and said, "Madam, I am here to entertain you with good intentions. Why are you thinking of filing a complaint? It really hurts my heart. I had already prepared a carriage to take you away, but now I have to give up."
Jiang Shuyi was like seeing her near hope shattered again. She said hastily, "I won't tell you! If you send me back to the capital, I won't tell my husband anything!"
The county magistrate smiled and covered his lips, "Who can say for sure? Once you meet your husband, you will tell him everything. What can I do then? How can a mere seventh rank official fight against an official as high as your husband?"
Jiang Shuyi was completely disappointed when she saw that she couldn't deceive him.
The county magistrate walked towards her with a smile, and Cui'er quickly protected the girl with her arms open, like an old hen protecting her chicks at home.
Jiang Shuyi was so scared that her hands and feet were cold, but looking at Cui'er who swore to protect her, she tried her best to stay calm, tightly grasping the mattress and said, "My lord, I am not a royal concubine, but a concubine in the palace. I was deceived by the evil spirit and brought here when I went out of the palace with His Majesty. If you do anything bad to me, His Majesty will find this place sooner or later and cut you into pieces."
Even if an official's wife is in trouble, her family members will not search the whole world for her. But it is different for concubines, who represent the reputation of the royal family. The emperor will eventually find out about this. If the county magistrate does not want to implicate his entire family and send them to the guillotine, he cannot do anything bad to her.
The county magistrate seemed to have heard it and stopped moving forward. He put one hand on his waist and looked at her again seriously.
Jiang Shuyi was just thinking she was saved when the county magistrate suddenly laughed again, shaking with laughter: "You are the empress, so I am His Majesty. You were deceived when you left the palace incognito? Even an opera wouldn't dare to sing this! You want to be the imperial concubine, right? My beloved concubine, I am your His Majesty, but I changed my clothes, so you don't recognize me?"
Jiang Shuyi was disgusted by his father-in-law-like tone.
She held back and tried to save herself: "I am indeed the imperial concubine. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to the capital to inquire whether His Majesty has lost a concubine. If you can return to the right path as soon as possible, I will not care and will let His Majesty reward you."
"Come on, Madam, one moment you said your husband lost his wife, and the next moment you said His Majesty lost his imperial concubine. It takes at least half a month to go back and forth from here to the capital. You want me to send someone to inquire about it, and then take advantage of this time to escape, right?"
The county magistrate snorted, looking very smart and not being fooled. He folded up his folding fan and turned it in his hand: "I advise you to give up this idea, wait and be my sixteenth concubine, and forget your husband!"
After he said that, he turned and left, leaving behind only a strong smell of powder.
Jiang Shuyi almost vomited.
She was a little overwhelmed, but at this moment, there was no use in collapsing.
......
Not long after the county magistrate left, two maids brought him a bright red wedding dress.
"The day after tomorrow is an auspicious day, so get ready, young lady."
Jiang Shuyi just wanted to tear the wedding dress into pieces and throw it in the dog county magistrate's face.
She slept during the day and couldn't sleep at night. Cui'er was heartless and fell into a deep sleep, leaving her alone crying outside the window.
She regretted running away after a while, and secretly cursed the old devil Wu Jianshan, saying that he was holding a grudge against Pei Yan for threatening him in his previous life, and came here on purpose to take revenge in this life!
After a while, he couldn't help but think with relief that if Wu Jianshan had bad intentions, then what he said would be false. Wouldn't Pei Yan have to die young and have his soul torn apart in three lifetimes?
Jiang Shuyi cried for a while and laughed for a while, and felt like she was going crazy.
But if she couldn't go back to Pei Yan, if she was really defiled by that disgusting thing, she would definitely go crazy.
Just as he was thinking this, there was a sudden noise outside the window, and a servant cried out: "The woodshed is on fire! Go put out the fire! We don't have enough manpower!"
"But the Lord asked us to guard the people inside."
"Why are you guarding her? Does she have the guts to escape? Even if she does, the guards at the gate are not dead. We should save the living ghost in the woodshed first!"
The person guarding outside hesitated for a moment, but still followed the person.
Jiang Shuyi's breathing stagnated.
The lights in the room were off. Not afraid of her shadow being seen from outside, she stood up and walked to the window, listening carefully to the noise outside.
There was no sound at all.
She walked to the door again and tried to push it open, which was also easy.
Jiang Shuyi walked out; the yard was empty and the door was open.
She was so happy that she hurried back to the house and woke up Cui'er who was sleeping soundly: "Hurry, the woodshed is on fire, they are all trying to put out the fire, let's run away quickly."
Cui'er was sleepy and confused for a moment before she realized what the girl said.
She obeyed and immediately followed the girl away.
Jiang Shuyi remembered that the man just now said that there were yamen runners guarding the door, so she couldn't go through the door.
Perhaps people will grow some brains when they are in desperate situations. She can now recall the general layout of the government office when she came in during the day.
This courtyard is adjacent to the southern outer wall of the government office, and is just a good size for climbing over.
It was a dark night. Jiang Shuyi took Cui'er and headed straight for the south wall. They had a smooth journey, but the wall of the government office was too high to climb over.
Cui'er looked around for something to use as leverage, but she found nothing. However, she did discover a dog hole.
She quickly called out to Jiang Shuyi: "Miss! There is a dog hole, let's escape from here!"
Jiang Shuyi no longer cared about her appearance at this moment. Cui'er went out first, so she followed her.
It was clearly the same sky, but across the wall, the air seemed a lot clearer and fresher.
"Miss, where shall we flee to next?"
Cui'er asked Jiang Shuyi a question that stunned her. Yes, where are we going to escape to next?
The city gates were already closed at this hour, so there was no way to get through. When it was daytime, the county magistrate would certainly start searching for her, and any kind-hearted person who took her in would also be implicated.
Jiang Shuyi leaned against the wall, trembling, confusion and despair filling her heart at the same time.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer.
Her legs went weak and she was unable to move for a moment, and she couldn't even escape.
The soldiers holding torches eventually surrounded them on horseback.
Flames shot up into the sky. Jiang Shuyi raised her eyes tremblingly and saw the armor on the soldiers.
That is not something that local soldiers can wear; it is the style worn by the emperor's personal guards in the capital.
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