Chapter 54 Dongliu Villa
Chapter 54 Dongliu Villa
Thirty miles northeast of Yunwu Mountain, there is a hillside.
In early spring, when the slopes are surrounded by green willows, Mr. Huang invites prestigious gentry from Bailuo County to hold a poetry gathering in the woods, where they drink wine by the winding stream and enjoy a leisurely and comfortable atmosphere.
Dongliu Villa is also well-known in the circle of literati in Pingyang Prefecture.
In their writings, this woodland manor is full of birdsong, flowers and vitality.
Unfortunately, it is still winter.
The willow branches are bare due to the frost and snow.
Under the cover of night, the uncovered Dongliu Villa looked like a man-eating devil’s den with its mouth wide open.
There are hundreds of huts at the foot of the slope, with thatched roofs and stones pressing on them to protect against heavy snow and cold wind.
For the farmhands and tenants of Huang Batian's family, this was a veritable living coffin, which made it very convenient for them to live in and be buried after death.
Someone said: "The shed collapsed and the ground sank, forming a grave. I can only watch my friends become new ghosts."
The manor on Willow Hill is prosperous and peaceful, but human tragedies are happening down below the hill every day.
"Stop it, damn bitch!"
"What if we don't pull it out? The fire will be out immediately."
"Pull the roof bare and let the snow and wind blow in. Do you want your whole family to freeze to death?"
"Who told you not to go to the slope to chop wood? If the fire pit goes out, we can survive, but what about Xiaobao?"
A baby less than a year old was lying on a pile of straw beside the fire. He seemed to have heard his parents' quarrel and started to cry loudly.
The woman hurriedly opened her clothes, but she was so hungry that she couldn't get a single sip of breast milk, no matter how hard she tried. She could only use a straw to dip some warm water and wet Xiaobao's lips.
The skinny man looked at the gradually dying fire, made up his mind, sat up and said, "I'll go to the slope to chop trees!"
The woman was horrified when she heard this and said hurriedly, "Boss, I was just talking nonsense, don't take it seriously. The trees on the slope must not be cut down!"
The skinny man said angrily: "If you stick your head out, you'll get stabbed. If you hide your head, you'll also be waiting to die."
The woman coaxed Xiaobao while crying, "Wu Laosan just chopped down a dead willow tree, and before it was half burned, the servants of the Huang Mansion came to the door and arrested him. After midnight, they threw back a cold body."
"Boss, do you want Xiaobao and I to do the same as Wu Laosan's parents... dig up our house to make a grave?"
Digging up the house to make a grave!
People in the countryside are not good at writing, but the words they create are often more touching than the colorful words written by literati.
The skinny man wanted to cry but had no tears. He sat in the dugout in the ground, unable to even stand up straight, listening to the howling wind and snow outside. After a long silence, he suddenly raised his head and looked outside the straw hut.
In addition to the sound of wind and snow, there seemed to be other sounds heard just now.
The woman asked in surprise, "Master, what's wrong?"
"Do not talk!"
The woman asked worriedly, "Is it the servants of the Huang Mansion? Someone secretly went up the hill to cut down trees again?"
The man finally heard clearly that it was footsteps, the footsteps of many people, heading towards Dongliu Villa on the slope.
The man's voice was full of excitement: "Shut up, bandits are coming."
The woman said in fear: "Bandits? Should we alert Dongliu Villa? Butler Huang said..."
The man fished out a rusty hatchet from the straw pile, his eyes sparkling as he sneered, "Warning? What if the Huang family falsely accuses us of being in league with the bandits?"
More than two hundred people climbed up the willow slope, and the cave below the slope was completely silent.
East Willow Villa.
A hunchbacked old man, less than five feet tall, sat on a throne, holding a volume of Zhu Xi's Collected Commentaries in his hand. He raised his left foot, and two young and pretty maids took off his boots and silk socks, and then gently placed his legs in a copper plate.
"Ok?"
He put down the book and frowned slightly.
The older maid hurriedly asked, "Master, is the water cold?"
The old man smiled warmly: "The water temperature is just right. Ah Huan, please move the fire pan away. The fire is too strong. I am not old enough to use four fire pans to surround myself."
Ah Huan did as she was told and slightly pushed away the two fire plates facing her. Another maid smiled and said, "Master, you are in good health! Last time... Sister Rujiao's legs were weak the next day."
The old man said happily: "Yinyu, you are blaming the master for being partial. Then the master will reward you well tonight!"
The maid was only a foot-washing maid and was not qualified to serve. However, she was young and beautiful. This youthful and lively temperament was what the middle-aged and elderly men who had experienced many vicissitudes of life and were immersed in conspiracies and calculations were most obsessed with.
Yin Yu was sweet-mouthed. While wiping it with a towel, she smiled and said, "Thank you, Master, for your reward first."
The maid named Ah Huan was wearing ordinary coarse cloth clothes and had an ordinary appearance. There was a black mole at the corner of her mouth, which made people dislike her. However, because of her dignified demeanor and well-behaved manners, she was assigned the easy task of washing feet.
At this time, a young man walked in from outside, wearing a Confucian scarf and looking a bit bookish. He walked closer, glanced at Yin Yu secretly, and bowed to the old man.
"Dad, I just received a pigeon letter. Gang leader Sikong has replied."
"how?"
"Just four words, be patient for now."
"Please bear with it for now?"
"Dad, it seems that Qingfeng Village is quite powerful, and even the Shennong Gang is wary of it. He sent a letter asking for 2,000 stones of grain and grass, should we give it to him?"
The old man who was less than five feet tall was the owner of Dongliu Villa, Huang Batian.
The man in the scholar's cap is Huang Fuchun, the eldest son of the Huang family. He passed the provincial examination in Jin last year and was awarded the title of Juren. It is hard to say how knowledgeable he is, but he is indeed smart and capable.
Huang Batian frowned and waved his hand, and two foot-washing maids left the hall carrying copper plates and kettles.
Huang Batian frowned and asked, "Where did the mansion get two thousand stones of grain and grass?"
Huang Fuchun frowned and said, "I think it's the same if converted into silver."
Huang Batian said distressedly: "That's nearly ten thousand taels of silver! For your title of Juren, thirty thousand taels have already been spent."
Huang Fuchun smiled and said, "Don't worry, father. We will use the power of Qingfeng Village to further control the thirty miles of Yunwu Mountain. All the tea gardens and medicinal gardens, the income next year will only increase and not decrease."
Huang Batian asked: "Will Qingfeng Village agree? I'm afraid they will ask for too much and push their luck."
Huang Fuchun thought for a moment and said, "He came to Qingfeng Village with a letter of greeting, which means he wants to negotiate. He wants food and grass, so it's not reasonable for him to just take the benefits without doing anything. I think Zhang Yu will agree."
Huang Batian said helplessly: "That's the only way."
He was just a bully. Without Sikong Huan's support, he would always be inferior to the bandits.
Over here, two maids carried the foot washing water to the ditch outside the backyard gate and slowly poured it out.
"Whose daughter is sold as a slave, whose parents are wrapped in straw mats, whose innocence is turned into charcoal, whose cattle and horses are not regarded as human beings..."
An older maid named Ah Huan was humming softly; the tune was mournful and mournful, as if she was filled with a thousand sorrows.
Yin Yu asked curiously, "Sister Huan, are you unhappy?"
Ah Huan smiled bitterly and said, "Are you happy here?"
Yin Yu said without hesitation: "Of course I am happy! At home, I can only eat half a black bun every day, but in Huang's house, I can eat until my belly is full. Is there anything more joyful than having a full belly?"
Ah Huan said, "But people live for more than just a full belly. Don't cows and horses also have full bellies?"
Yin Yu said proudly: "Sister Ah Huan is wrong. This winter, the bark of the trees below the slope has been eaten away. Only then can the cattle and horses of the Huang family have full bellies!"
Ah Huan stopped talking, and something seemed to flash in the darkness.
someone!
The outlines of human faces gradually became clear in the darkness. Fierce men, holding knives and guns, rushed out from the woods and surrounded the Huang Mansion silently.
Ah Huan didn't say anything and just stood there.
Yin Yu turned around and tried to escape through the side door of the Huang residence, shouting, "There are bandits!"
Whoosh!
The bowstring is clanging.
A feather arrow shot into the back of the maid, who was not yet sixteen years old, and fell on the threshold of the Huang family. Before she died, she used up her last bit of strength and crawled three steps inside.
"Even if I die... I am not a lonely ghost..."
(End of this chapter)