Chapter 9
After drinking the ginger soup and returning to the women's prison, when the guard locked the door, Gu Ran discovered that Pei Liuniang did not follow them back.
Aunt Mai and her daughter also noticed it, but they looked at each other with an expression of understanding and remained silent.
Gu Ran recalled his uneasy expression in front of Officer Feng Jie just now, and also remembered Pei Liuniang's weak and helpless appearance. He felt vaguely uneasy and couldn't help but ask the guard, "Sir, we are still short of one female prisoner!"
"Which one is missing?"
Because before Aunt Mai and the others came, Gu Ran was the only one in the women's prison. When Mrs. Dou went in and out to get things for Gu Ran, she also gave benefits to the guards, so the guards were quite nice.
"Is that Pei Liuniang?" Gu Ran deliberately turned around to glance at Aunt Mai and her daughter in the prison, "The prisoner who came with them?"
"Oh, Madam Pei Liu. She was called over by Master Feng to do some work." The guard mentioned it nonchalantly.
"What job?" Gu Ran asked again after hearing it.
"How should I know? She's a prisoner under Master Feng's care. She should do whatever errands he tells her to do. Stop talking so much nonsense."
The guard kept asking Gu Ran questions and became impatient. "You are a prisoner. You should mind your own business. Why are you meddling in other people's business? Stop asking. If you ask again, Grandpa won't know. Even if he knows, there's no need to tell you."
Gu Ran could only shut up.
When he sat back in his seat, he saw Aunt Mai and her daughter sitting next to him, saying nothing. They just squatted aside and took a rest.
It’s not that Gu Ran is meddling in other people’s business. After all, she is in a very difficult situation now and can’t take care of herself. It’s just that she is afraid that she will be the unlucky one.
In her first life, the car accident was caused by the other driver who was drunk and deliberately causing trouble, and she became a victim. In her second life, she was struck by lightning because a powerful person was trying to overcome the tribulation, and she also became a victim. Now, it was miserable enough that she was implicated by her husband's family and then abandoned to fend for herself during exile. She didn't want to be taken in by another team of officials and then become a victim in her third life because of the shamelessness of Adjutant Feng.
You have to know that it takes two or three months to get to Minzhou from here, and anything can happen.
The incident with Aunt Fang the other day was a lesson for us. He was currently harassing Pei Liuniang because he had witnessed it with his own eyes. Who knew if Adjutant Feng would suddenly go berserk in the future?
He might have been targeting...
Gu Ran glanced at Aunt Mai and her daughter, who took out their sewing kit to mend their clothes after a short rest, and pursed his lips.
It is very likely that the next victim may be yourself.
Aunt Mai and her family are all in the exile team, and they have the support of the two sons of the Mai family. The exile place has requirements on the number of prisoners sent by the officials, and the Mai family accounts for four prisoners. Adjutant Feng will never provoke them easily.
Although I forced myself to use the divorce to support the Zhang Hou Mansion, what if they don't believe it?
It was obvious that he was the weak one.
But now Adjutant Feng is still skeptical and his mind is obviously on Pei Liuniang, so she is safe for the time being.
But Gu Ran felt it was necessary to prepare for a rainy day, so he moved closer to Aunt Mai and her daughter and asked, "What are you doing?"
"The clothes that are worn out on the road are rare to stop, so they need to be mended, otherwise they will be unwearable."
"And cloth shoes and socks."
"Oh! You are really good at sewing."
Gu Ran looked at the Mai mother and daughter with envy as they skillfully threaded the needle.
The original owner was raised as a daughter of a marquis. She was only just able to sew, and it was more difficult for her to hold a needle than a pen. If she were asked to be good at sewing, she would have secretly used the animal skins in the workshop to make clothes and boots.
Especially boots. When you hit the road after the New Year, cotton shoes that make your feet feel cold just by walking a few steps are definitely not enough.
After watching for a while, Gu Ran asked, "Pei Liuniang, are you always asked by the officials to do extra errands?"
She didn't dare mention Adjutant Feng's name, for fear that Aunt Mai would end the conversation if she did.
The last time was when she was talking about the last prisoner who died, Aunt Fang, Aunt Mai didn't dare to continue.
"Not often, just occasionally!" Aunt Mai glanced at Gu Ran and replied casually.
"What are these errands?"
"Just pouring tea and serving wine to the officials, those are pretty easy tasks."
Gu Ran stopped talking.
It seems that Pei Liuniang is being treated as a maid.
Although it was common for a female prisoner to be ordered by the police to do odd jobs, Gu Ran still felt uneasy: "That Pei Liuniang..."
"Oh, Gu Erniang, don't worry about Pei Liuniang, she will be fine." Aunt Mai interrupted Gu Ran.
"Ah?" Gu Ran was puzzled.
"That's right. After the last incident, Li Jieguan came out and said that other officials were not allowed to cause trouble again. Moreover," Aunt Mai looked at her, obviously knowing that Gu Ran had asked Mai Xiang about Aunt Fang.
"You still don't know what Pei Liuniang did to get here, right?"
"I really don't know, how about Aunt Mai, can you tell me about it?"
"We can't afford to offend Pei Liuniang!"
The Pei family in Zhengzhou is also a well-known family in the local area. Pei Liuniang is the daughter of the fourth branch. Her parents died when she was young, and she was raised by the eldest branch. At the beginning of this year, the Pei family suffered a tragedy and was wiped out. Pei Liuniang was the only survivor.
After the Zhengzhou prefect personally investigated the case, he found out that it was Pei Liuniang who committed the crime. As for the motive for the murder, it was the eldest son of the Pei family who killed Pei Liuniang's parents six years ago in order to make money.
The young Pei Liuniang remembered that the enemies who killed her parents were the other three branches of Pei San, and the eldest uncle was the mastermind.
She endured humiliation for many years and finally raised a large sum of money to hire an assassin who was the number one thief in the world. She wiped out the entire Pei family and even killed her enemies with her own hands, including her uncle, to avenge her parents.
The truth came to light, and everyone sighed, with some praising her and some criticizing her. Pei Liuniang was sentenced to exile.
"Even though she's pitiful, she's also a person who's stained with blood. Unlike us, you'd better be careful."
Gu Ran understood what Aunt Mai meant.
She and her mother and daughter were implicated in the crimes of others and became exiles, but Pei Liuniang was the actual perpetrator of the crime, so it was no wonder that Aunt Mai was so afraid of her.
Seeing Aunt Mai still talking about how scheming Pei Liuniang was, Gu Ran thought of how helpless and fragile Pei Liuniang was when Deputy Feng was in trouble, and his heart was still restless.
In the world of cultivation, strength is paramount. She has also seen people with blood feuds who seek revenge after achieving success in cultivation. So in her eyes, Pei Liuniang deliberately hired a killer, which was too much. She was also avenging her parents within her own ability, and her courage was commendable.
But she is still a young lady, and now she is a prisoner, becoming a fish on the chopping board of the officials. Can she handle it calmly?
Hiring someone to kill someone is different from facing the oppression of powerful forces.
Gu Ran always felt that the current Pei Liuniang might be his future self.
Now that she has neither cultivation nor martial arts skills, she is afraid of being powerless in the future.
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