Chapter 4

The hustle and bustle of Quanzhou City in the night has faded away, and the bustling port during the day is now pitch-dark. The large and small sampan boats moored on the shore, along with the fine waves brought by the sea breeze, rise and fall silently on the water surface. swaying. In the distance, there are occasionally a few sporadic orange fishing fires on the bows of the boats, and the firelight jumps little by little in the night, echoing the ancient lighthouse that has been standing there hundreds of years ago to guide the way people return to the night.

However, some people who go to sea have never returned after leaving here, leaving only the lighthouse at night and the night sky.

Jiafu knelt down facing the sea, lighted incense and prayed silently, she was reluctant to leave for a long time, standing on the side of the dam, looking at the direction where her father sailed away back then, her heart was up and down.

In her last life, after marrying Pei Xiuzhi, her life was not really that great.

easy

. After entering the door, she diligently served her elders, tried her best to please her stepson, and did not dare to tell her husband when she was wronged. Everything was to maintain the kindness and tolerance she should have.

At that time, being a competent wife who could be recognized by her husband and her husband's family was her greatest goal.

Later, she committed herself to Xiao Yintang. After realizing that it was impossible for her to escape his grasp, she could only learn to accept it. She told herself that this kind of life is actually very good. He has really done his best to her. If she still dares to be dissatisfied, then she will not know what to do.

Only after she died and lived again did she realize how pitiful and sad she was in the past.

Since that day, she opened her eyes and found that she had returned from the underground palace to the human world. She stubbornly believed that it must be the blessing of her father's undead that could bring her back to the present before she was about to marry.

In this lifetime, she will never marry Pei Xiuzhi, let alone have anything to do with Xiao Yintang.

These two men kept saying that they loved her.

Pei Xiuzhi surrendered her because he had difficulties and had to.

In the name of favor, Xiao Yintang turned her into a living dead who could not see the light, but also because he had difficulties and was also forced to do so.

She doesn't hate them. There are indeed many things that cannot be done by oneself. So is she.

But they made her cold, and this cold came from the depths of the marrow.

The love of a man for a woman in the world is nothing more than that, she sees through it thoroughly.

Facing the night wind with a slightly salty smell, Jiafu took a deep breath.

She was born and raised in Sri Lanka, and everything in her memory about warmth and good memories is closely related to the hometown of this alias Licheng. The pier she is stepping on at the moment has a special meaning for her.

Tonight just now, in the midst of ups and downs, couldn't help coming here to pay homage to father again.

The marriage of the two families has been finalized, and the Song family, who is now full of holy family, is still in the middle. In order to teach her a stepmother who is not born enough, a few months ago, the Song family specially sent two mother-in-law to Quanzhou, and they will go on the road together tomorrow. At this point, it is impossible for her to rashly ask to break off the engagement based on her own will.

Besides, even if she mentioned it, grandmother would never agree to it.

She could only find another way.

Tomorrow she will set off for the north, and thus embark on an unknown road to new life.

Dad, if you have a spirit in the sky, bless Afu.

...

Zhang Da and his fellow servant stood far behind, looking at the back of the little lady standing in front of the dock embankment, and somewhat guessed it. The father and daughter are deeply in love, and the little lady will go north tomorrow to get married. She must have all her thoughts tonight, so she came here to cherish the memory of the lost master, and she was also emotional and did not dare to disturb her. .

Sandalwood understood, came behind Jiafu, and said softly: "Little lady, it's cold in the night, why don't you go back?"

Jiafu turned around silently, followed the custom, threw the tribute and incense to the sea, and then came back.

Zhang Da hurriedly opened the sedan curtain, Jiafu got on the sedan, Zhang Da raised the lantern, and was about to lead the way back, when he looked up, he saw two shadowy figures on the opposite side, carrying something towards this side, and suddenly found someone at the pier , seemed to panic, and hurriedly turned around to leave.

By the moonlight, Zhang Dazao recognized that the two were the fellows of the Jin family who competed with their own fleet.

Every day in Quanzhou, thousands of large and small sampans enter the port to moor, and the number of docks is limited. There are often conflicts between ships for a favorable position. In order to facilitate the entry and exit of their own fleets, some companies with strong financial resources have paid a lot of rent to the Municipal Shipping Department to rent the docks. , only allow their own boats or lend them to others. The Zhen family has one of the best financial resources in Quanzhou, and has a good relationship with the government. Naturally, it has a private wharf with an excellent location.

In the middle of the night, the golden guy sneakily carried something he didn't know came from the home dock. Zhang Da was suspicious and said to Jiafu in the sedan chair, and immediately chased after him. Not knowing what to pack, he shouted, "Stop! What are you carrying?"

The two guys didn't expect that it was so late. There were still people on the Zhenjia pier. They raised their heads and turned around and ran away, but they didn't hold their hands. A black shadow slipped out from the end of the seat and fell to the ground. .

Zhang Dana took a photo of the lantern and found that it was a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy, dressed in rags, very thin, with his eyes closed, looking dead.

Zhang Da runs at the dock all the year round to dispatch. He has never seen anything before, and he immediately understood. He was furious, went up and grabbed the guy who was about to flee, and said angrily: "Okay! On the pier, let me meet the official!"

Quanzhou is prosperous in maritime trade. Half of the people in the city rely on the sea for food and livelihoods. It is very different from the land, and the risks are even greater. Over the generations, many superstitions and taboos for which no one can tell the reason has gradually formed. For example, Dock Abandoned Corpse is one of them. In the eyes of the locals, this is an ominous move. The dead water ghosts refuse to leave, and they will attach themselves to the boats docked nearby to make trouble, which is bad for the owner of the boat.

Seeing that there was no way to hide it, Zhang Da was angry again and was going to see an official. He was afraid, so he knelt down and begged for mercy, saying that this young man was working in his own dock and had no family. He got sick a few months ago and was about to die. The person in charge reported the matter to Mr. Jin. Mr. Jin didn't want to report the matter to the official. He was always jealous that the Zhen family had the best pier in this location. Zhenjia Pier was thrown into the sea, and the body was washed away with the tide.

Quanzhou Wharf gathers countless people who come here to seek a living. Although the government strictly prohibits the use of unregistered people in private, this is just an empty order. Due to the low wages, Dock Wharf prefers to hire such migrants. This young man must be one of them, but unfortunately, he fell ill and died.

Where is Zhang Da willing to let it go, he sneered: "I'm not afraid of hurting Yinde! Go! Go to the official and see what your master can say!"

The two guys were terrified, knelt on the ground and kept begging for mercy, saying that they were forced to act and had nothing to do with them.

When Jiafu heard the movement, she got out of the sedan chair and went to check it. Zhang Da saw it and hurried over: "Little lady, don't come! Pickle here!"

Seeing that Miss Zhen's family was also there, the guy knew that if he was sent to office, Master Jin would not know what happened. Anyway, the two of them would inevitably be unlucky, so he turned to her and begged for mercy, bursting with tears.

Jiafu frowned and glanced at the man on the ground.

"He's not dead, I just saw it, it seems to move!"

Sandalwood shouted suddenly.

Zhang Da was busy illuminating his face with a lantern, and sure enough, the double eyelids of the boy on the ground trembled a few times, and then he slowly opened his eyes.

The light of the lantern was dim, but it also showed a pair of black and white eyes, which must have been clear, but they were too sick, and at this moment, their eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of gauze, and they were dull.

After a while, the young man's consciousness seemed to come back to his senses, his eyes gradually focused, and he fixedly looked at Jiafu who was wearing a cloak, motionless.

Seeing this, Jin Guyi was relieved, and hurriedly climbed up from the ground. While wrapping the boy back in the ragged mat, he said, "We'll send him back. Let's go now, let's go now!"

The boy's face was covered by the broken straw mat. The man raised the seat and hurried away.

Zhang Dazhi carried the boy back like this, but he was waiting for him to die and then find a place to deal with it. But this kind of thing is too common, and it's just that the young man's life is bad. Thinking that the owner is going to set off tomorrow morning, since things have been broken, it is expected that these two people would never dare to turn back and abandon their bodies at their own dock, so they gave up and asked Jiafu to return to the sedan chair.

Jiafu turned around and took a few steps. The look in the boy's eyes just now appeared when he looked at him, and he couldn't help but pause for a moment.

She knew that it was the gaze of a dying person who was eager to continue to live. She felt the despair and hope in it, and she couldn't be more clear.

She turned her head, looked at the backs of those people again, hesitated, and said, "Uncle Zhang, leave this child in our dock, and ask a doctor to see him. If he dies, bury him."

Zhang Da was stunned for a moment, and then he understood that the little lady was moved by pity and couldn't bear to watch the young man die.

There are at least hundreds of people hired to do things in Zhen's dock, and he doesn't care if there is more than one. Since the little lady opened her mouth, he naturally obeyed and nodded: "The little lady has a good heart and accumulates virtue, and she will obey her orders." After that, he went up a few steps. , gave the two guys a drink, and ordered them to be quickly carried to the Zhen Family Dock.

The two guys just came out to throw the corpse on the order of the steward. I didn't expect this to happen in the middle, and they were secretly calling out bad luck. When they saw Zhang Dayuan taking over, they were relieved and immediately carried the person back quickly. He spread his legs and went to Zhen's dock. Zhang Da yelled at his entourage to follow up to deal with the matter, and escorted the little lady back to Zhen's house by himself.

At this time, Jiafu asked the concierge and learned that her brother Zhen Yaoting had not returned.

It's not like my brother didn't stay overnight, but he's going to go out early tomorrow morning, not to mention this night in his previous life, Jiafu remembered that nothing like this happened to him, and he didn't know where he went. I didn't fall asleep much in the second half of the night. I woke up early the next morning, just finished dressing up and changing clothes for the trip, when I heard the sound of clattering footsteps in the yard, and the door was pushed open with a bang. , turned his head and saw his brother stepped in, still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, he knew that he hadn't returned overnight, and went up to meet him, just about to ask him where he went, but saw him conjuring a box from behind him , holding his hands over like a treasure, and said excitedly: "Sister, guess, what's in the box?"

The box is carved from a whole piece of agarwood, inlaid with cloud shells and gems, which is exquisite and gorgeous. This box alone is expensive.

Jiafu glanced at it and frowned: "Brother, where did you go last night? Why don't you say something, mother is very worried!"

Zhen Yaoting waved his hand: "Didn't I come back? I'll tell you later! Guess!"

Jiafu didn't guess, turned around and ignored him, Zhen Yaoting was anxious, opened the box and shouted: "Purple shark beads, this is a purple shark pearl necklace! I chased after the baby I bought all night, and gave it to you!"

Jiafu turned her head and looked at the necklace in the box in surprise: "Where did you buy it?"

Zhen Yaoting was triumphant and told the story again.

It turned out that when he was busy at the dock with Zhang Da yesterday, he suddenly heard people talking about a Hu merchant from Persia who had a legendary necklace made of purple shark beads in his hand. He heard that Quanzhou is full of rich people, so he wanted to come here. Selling at a high price, but have not met a suitable buyer, and will be leaving today.

My sister is going to go north tomorrow to be married, but the few days she just came back from Xishan Temple, she ran into evil and was a little unlucky. Although Zhen Yaoting likes to hang out, she is very affectionate to this sister, and remembered yesterday that she was taught by her mother when she was reprimanded, It was said that his sister married into the Pei family, although it was beautiful, but in the future, he must have all kinds of hard work. He wanted him to learn well and be proud of his sister. At that time, he nodded and agreed. In fact, when he turned around, he forgot. Word, those few people kept talking about the rarity of this treasure, and they immediately thought of buying it for her. They asked the Persian where he lived, and they knew that he lived in the fangfang where the vassal people lived. , rushed over immediately, but when he arrived, he couldn't find anyone. After inquiring, he learned that the Persian had no buyers and was greatly disappointed. He had already left this morning.

Zhen Yaoting wanted to buy the necklace wholeheartedly, so he asked the Persian where he was leaving and chased after him. He finally got him at the inn last night. The Persian refused to sell it at first, and the more he refused to come out, Zhen Yaoting would The more wanted to buy it, the higher the price was, and the more struggled for a long time, in the end, finally forced the Persian to take action. He took the treasure and hurried back overnight. just arrived home this morning. didn’t care about the fatigue of the journey, so came to sister first. Offering treasure.

Gave was surprised. didn't expect brother to stay home last night because of this. glanced at the necklace and saw that it was a string of purple pearls, so knew it was a fake.

In the last life in the palace, she had seen the purple shark pearl presented to Empress Zhang by the envoy of Fanbang.

The name of the purple shark bead is purple, but in fact, the color is not purple, but pink. It just turns to deep purple when facing the sunlight, so it got the name. Because it was rare and hard to find, after the queen got it, she specially summoned Jiafu to her place to enjoy it, saying that if she liked it, she would give it to her.

How could Jiafu dare to ask for it? At that time, she kowtowed and declined. When she came back to think of her father, she felt sad for a long time, so she was deeply impressed.

"I'll put it on for you! Sister, you have a purple shark pearl, and it will be smooth and smooth in the future, safe and rich!"

Zhen Yaoting took out the necklace and said happily.

These beads are all the size of a pinky thumb, they are rare, round, lustrous and flawless, and their colors are rare. Naturally, they are good things, but they are not purple shark beads.

Jiafu knew that her brother had fallen into the trap of the Persian. Seeing his tired face, but his eyes glowing with excitement, I was deeply moved. I couldn't bear to pierce his excitement, but thinking that he is the heir of the Zhen family's family business, if he is always so confused, it is easy to trust people, and he will be afraid in the future. Wanting to suffer, after hesitating, he said: "Brother, you have been deceived, this is not a purple shark pearl. I have heard people say that the purple shark pearl got its name because it turned purple under the sun, and it did not come with it. Purple."

Zhen Yaoting was stunned for a moment, staring at the necklace with wide eyes, his face changed greatly, he raised his hand and fell to the ground, angrily said: "Okay, grandson turtle dares to lie to me! I will call someone to chase, if caught, it will not be interrupted. He has no bones!" He hurried out and gave orders, but when he came back, he was still angry, grabbed the necklace and threw it on the ground, stepping on it when he lifted his foot.

Jiafu hurriedly stopped him, picked up the necklace and said, "Brother, that person must know your reputation. The price of these beads is high, and he can't sell them, so he deliberately led you to buy them. At this moment, people will not be able to catch them. In my opinion. Come on, this is your wish, brother. Although it is not a shark pearl, it is better than a shark pearl. It is also a fate to buy it back. It's just brother, before you do things in the future, remember to think more, or discuss with the stewards first, don't do this again Trust others, so as not to be deceived again.”

Zhen Yaoting was full of anger at first, and wished he could smash this thing to relieve his anger. Hearing what Jiafu said, his anger disappeared immediately, he touched his head, hehe smiled and said, "I see. Grandma and grandma's lesson, I Remember it all. This time I'm in a hurry, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up with you to get married, and I'll be deceived if I'm not careful, I'll definitely pay more attention in the future."

Jiafu remembered the last sentence she left before she was ordered to be nailed into the coffin by the Queen Mother in her previous life, knowing that after her death, her brother's fate must be miserable. In this life, it is even more determined to change the fate of the idea. So he put on the necklace, went to the mirror, took a picture, turned back and smiled, "Thank you, brother, I like it very much."

When Mr. Meng learned that his son didn't return overnight, he went to buy a necklace for his sister, complained a few words, and then gave up. Because of all the luggage, they had already boarded the boat yesterday. Early in the morning, they took a pair of children to say goodbye to the old lady, and the group went out to the pier and boarded the boat.

Before Sandalwood left, Tete gave the old lady Wang a box of frozen dragon brains, which contained ten pieces of frozen dragon's head, which meant that it was perfect, saying that it was the little lady's order and asked her to take it to add makeup to her daughter. Madam Wang never imagined in her dreams that the little lady actually fell in love with just a single word of her own. She was very pleasantly surprised, thankful, and full of good words: "The little lady will go to Beijing this time, it will be smooth sailing, everything she wants will come true, and she will marry a happy man. Lord, you will be rich and noble in your life!"