rain
The carriage drove out of the city gate, leaving only deep marks on the shaft.
The shrouded white fog gradually dissipated, and there were signs of clearing up.
The three people in the carriage chatted casually.
"Sister, you don't know this. Sister was stared at and stopped, but we are not like that. We can go wherever we want. I even met the other two princes."
"As long as the money is used well, you can get anything you want to say from those maids and servants, let alone just a piece of clothing." Qi Qingyu chuckled, his eyes full of pride.
Qi Qinghe also laughed, "I really have to thank you this time, otherwise I would not have been able to think of any way to escape."
If she didn't have the clothes and the carriage she had been waiting for, she would have been captured in no time.
After all, Yangzhou City is not that big, so it would be easy for the government to arrest someone.
As we chatted and laughed, the county town appeared before our eyes.
Qi Qinghe took out a hairband and tied up all the messy hair. She and her younger sister helped A Niang get out of the car, one in front and one behind.
After thanking the driver, the three of them walked towards the city together.
It was getting close to night, the time when everyone would chat and visit each other, exchanging small talk.
However, the usually bustling county town was now completely deserted.
"Strange, is everyone asleep? This shouldn't be the case." Qi Qingyu muttered softly.
Qi Qinghe's eyebrows jumped, and he quickened his pace and walked towards the cloth shop with his mother.
As I walked through the streets and around the corner, I saw a man coming towards me. He was strong and not thin, and I didn't know what he was holding in his hand.
Only when I got closer did I see clearly that it was Aunt Li, my former neighbor.
Qi Qinghe greeted with a smile, "Auntie Li, are you going to bring food to Master?"
Aunt Li was holding a bamboo basket at her side, walking with her head down, when she suddenly heard a sound, her own voice. She was so scared that she took a few steps back and screamed.
Qi Qinghe stretched out his hand, which froze in mid-air. After a while, he retracted it, touched his nose, smiled awkwardly, and became more confused.
She had only been away for three or four days, not a long time, so why did Aunt Li react like that?
Aunt Li took a quick look and saw that it was the three people from the Qi family. She was frightened and looked unhappy. She snorted coldly and walked away without any intention of greeting them.
Soon, when the man walked away, the mocking words were scattered in the wind, "You look like a decent person, but why don't you do anything? It's a waste of such a good-looking face."
The smile on Qi Qinghe's face froze. She grabbed her younger sister who was about to ask for clarification and continued walking with her arm in arm.
The huge cloth shop had a pitch-black gate that was not closed tightly, leaving a gap through which a quarrel could be heard.
Qi Qingyu ran up the stairs in three or two steps. This time she learned her lesson and listened carefully by sticking to the door.
“…We have been following Miss Dong for such a long time. How could you not know what kind of person she is? How could Miss Dong be such a person!” The girl’s voice sounded slightly sharp and firm.
A male voice sneered, "You can only know a person's face, not his heart. Who knows what she's secretly planning? You've heard the rumors in the city, they can't be all groundless, right? You can stay here as long as you like. I'm not going to serve you anymore."
After he finished speaking, the sound of hurried footsteps approached.
Qi Qingyu suddenly took a few steps back and reached out to push the door. At this moment, Zhao Nian pulled the door open with force.
Several people were caught off guard and hit in the face.
Qi Qinghe's ears were completely filled with those words, but she pretended not to hear them, her lips curled up, "It's fate that we met. It's up to you to leave or stay as you please. Please take care."
After saying that, she nodded slightly, stood straight and thin, and walked slowly inside.
Zhao Nian's eyes flickered, then he snorted and left in a huff.
Qi Qingyu kept looking back and quickly took a few steps to catch up with her sister. "Sister, are you really going to let him go like this?"
"If you're upright, why should you be afraid of these things?" Before Qi Qinghe could speak, Qi Xu smiled and said, "Can they still turn black into white?"
Qi Qinghe smiled. "We were planning to leave here anyway, so we don't need to worry about rumors. Besides, what good will it do if you chase them and explain and question them? Will they believe you?"
Qi Qingyu thought about it carefully and realized that this was the case, and couldn't help but sigh.
As they were talking, the three of them walked through the front hall and slowly stepped into the main hall.
In the hall, several cloth shop helpers had different expressions. Some were sitting, some were standing, listening to the noise and looking over, all with smiles on their faces.
"The young lady from the Dong family is back!" "The young lady is finally back. You didn't know that in the past few days, the city..." "Stop saying those depressing words. I'll go pour tea for the young lady from the Dong family."
The sharp female voice from before was very familiar. It was obviously Li Niang. Apart from her, Juan Niang, Xu Hui and Meng Xu were all there at the moment. The only person who left the entire cloth shop was Zhao Nian.
Several people were in a panic, talking non-stop around the person.
Qi Qinghe glanced at these people, and a warm feeling seemed to surge in her heart. Although she didn't know what the rumor was exactly, she could guess that it was nothing more than a substitution marriage, and those things in the palace were exaggerated.
"Thank you everyone, I'm fine." She smiled lightly and pulled everyone to sit down.
The people who were chattering non-stop seemed to have sensed the seriousness in their host's words, and now they all fell silent.
"Thank you for not minding me running the cloth shop with you." After a long while, Qi Qinghe said frankly, "Now you all can see that this cloth shop is not doing well. From now on, you should find better jobs."
"I wish you all success and success." After that, she drank tea instead of wine, raised her head and drank it all. "I will pay everyone's wages in full. Please wait a moment."
Just as she was talking about this, Qi Qingyu, who had gone to the backyard to get the account book, came back, squatted beside her sister, and looked through the account book with her.
By the time the monthly rent was paid, it was already late at night, the sky was covered with dark clouds, and the bright moon was not visible.
Qi Qinghe stretched his waist and stood in the courtyard, looking at the dark sky, without moving for a long time.
She heard footsteps approaching, and when she turned around, she saw Li Niang with red eyes. She couldn't help but laugh, "I'm not crying, why are you crying?"
Li Niang wiped her tears hastily and choked up, saying, "Those rumors are not true. You are the kindest person. When I was sick, you took care of me day and night. How could you be as cruel as they say?"
"I explained to them, but they didn't listen. Girl, I don't want to leave." Li Niang said, tears streaming down her face. "Where else can I go without you?"
Qi Qinghe sighed, hugged the person, and whispered to comfort him: "Let alone this county town, even if it is Yangzhou City, the whole Jiangnan area is so big, how can there be nowhere to go."
"Please keep the monthly salary carefully. It will be enough to support you for a while." She couldn't help but give some advice.
Li Niang nodded repeatedly, thanked the hostess with tears in her eyes, turned around and walked away.
Several helpers either left at night or took a short break and left the next day. The originally bustling cloth shop suddenly became silent as if no one was there.
Qi Qinghe suppressed the hundreds of thoughts in his mind and turned back to the bedroom. If he didn't get a good rest, he was afraid that his mother would nag him.
But halfway through the journey, a drizzle started to fall from the sky, but in the blink of an eye, it turned into a downpour.
Bean-sized raindrops hit my body continuously, soon soaking my clothes.
Qi Qinghe held up her hands to cover herself, lifted the hem of her skirt and jogged along, stopping at the nearest veranda. Raindrops dripped down her cheeks, soaking her hair and clothes, which wrapped around her body and were quite unbearable.
She kept breathing heavily and looked up at the sudden heavy rain.
In an instant, Qi Qinghe seemed to hear a sound beside her, like thunder and lightning, striking down on her head, reflecting her pale face.
"Get out!!!" The door of the cloth shop was slammed loudly.
Hearing the noise, Qi Xu, who came to greet her with an oil-paper umbrella, looked at her daughter through the heavy rain, and then they ran to the front courtyard at the same time.
Someone who was still awake opened the door.
The county town residents who used to be familiar with the people in the past, wearing straw raincoats and holding tools in their hands, such as farm tools or kitchen knives, looked at the people at the door with disgust.
The leader was the county magistrate. "Qi Qinghe, you have deceived the emperor and acted cruelly. You are unworthy of being a wife. What do you have to say?"
Qi Qinghe was soaked to the skin, her hair sticking to her face, sticky and damp. Facing the unfriendly gazes of these people, she didn't retreat a single step. Instead, she took a few steps forward, stood on the steps, and sneered, "You speak so seriously, sir, do you have any concrete evidence?"
"Oh, I forgot. Your Excellency's words are irrefutable evidence." Qi Qinghe looked down at them one by one, his expression calm as usual. "Even if you kidnap me today, throw me in jail, torture me and force me to confess, I, Qi Qinghe, will not admit it."
"We met once, and I believed I treated you sincerely, without any ill intentions. Now you all think I've acted improperly and disregarded our past friendship. This is truly disheartening. We just met by chance, and I have no grudges against you. I've never done anything to you. Why are you forcing me like this?"
Qi Xu came up a few steps behind and quickly opened the oil-paper umbrella to cover herself and her daughter.
The county magistrate sneered, "It's true what she said, she's eloquent, I'm afraid it's with this mouth that he's tricked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince into a frenzy. Our temple is small, and there's no room for a giant like Miss Qi."
Because of Qi Qinghe's words, everyone's expressions were shaken, but they were awakened by the county magistrate's words and agreed with him one after another.
Other things are easy to deal with, but deceiving the emperor is a capital crime. If they are not careful, all of them will be implicated.
Therefore, he became more and more angry and shouted at her to get out.
Qi Qinghe took the oil-paper umbrella from A'niang's hand and whispered to her to call her younger sister and asked them to pack up their things quickly.
"You don't have to tell me, I have to leave too." She smiled faintly. "I wanted to leave tonight so as not to disturb everyone, but everyone is so enthusiastic, and the weather is not good. How about staying one more night and making plans tomorrow?"
The county magistrate frowned. He had accepted a lot of money from a nobleman, and he was spreading rumors in the city and driving people out. If he failed to do so, he would be blamed. But the man had a special identity and he couldn't do anything to him, which gave him a headache.
After a while, the county magistrate softened his tone and said kindly, "Miss Qi, we are doing this for your own good. It's best to leave the city at night so as not to attract attention. These days, there are epidemics and assassinations, and the situation is very turbulent. If you stay another night, your life may be in danger."
The people behind the county magistrate were confused, but that didn't stop them from agreeing and driving the man out.
"You want to stay one more night? Dream on! Get out of here!!!" The voice was getting louder and louder, almost drowning out the sound of rain and thunder.
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