Reborn as the crippled king's favorite

Chapter 26: Buying people’s hearts, shopkeeper and scholar
On a rainy day, there are not many people on the road.

The royal carriage swayed and slowly drove towards the refugee shelter in Queer Alley.

After not getting a good rest at night, Murong Jiu fell asleep after getting on the carriage.

Chuntao came over and said, "Miss, please sleep on my shoulder for a while. We are still some distance away from the refugee center."

"it is good."

I slept peacefully this time without any more chaotic dreams.

When Chuntao gently called her to wake up, the carriage had stopped at the door of the refugee camp for a long time.

When she opened her eyes, Chuntao quickly wet the handkerchief with water and asked her to put it on her eyes to wake up.

"Why did you jump in line? It's already our turn! The steamed buns are ours!"

The angry voice of a middle-aged man could be heard not far away. Murong Jiu took off the handkerchief and opened the car curtain.

The rain outside became lighter, and there was a push and shove in front of the porridge bucket.

A few men like gangsters ran to the front to jump in and took away the last few steamed buns. The middle-aged man tried to snatch them back, but was pushed to the ground. The young man behind him who was holding a wooden stick was also kicked down. , the broken bowl in his hand also hit the ground, making a crisp cracking sound.

"I just jumped in line. You two newcomers don't even know who is the grandpa here. You dare to yell at me. I will beat you to death!"

The leader of the thugs punched and kicked the two of them, and even stomped on the young man's injured foot.

The skinny people in the refugee camp under the eaves looked on, but no one dared to come forward and say a fair word.

There was also a middle-aged man with a full beard leaning against the wall. He had been drinking, drunk and indifferent to the things around him.

"Tell them to stop."

Murong Jiu said to the guard in a cold voice.

The two guards immediately stepped forward and just showed their knives. The gangsters immediately stopped and shouted for Grandpa to spare their lives.

They are just scum who bully the weak and fear the strong.

Seeing that the guards made no other moves, several gangsters rolled and crawled away.

Murong Jiu got off the carriage and walked towards the two people on the ground.

The ground was covered with rainwater mud. The clothes on the middle-aged men and young men were full of dirt. They fell in the muddy water in pain. Even their hair was covered with muddy water.

They saw a pair of clean, pure white embroidered shoes stepping into the bumpy muddy water, slowly walking into a world that was incompatible with them.

Lou Zixi curled up on his broken leg and looked up at the woman walking towards them.

She was wearing simple plain clothes, and she was holding a black oil-paper umbrella in her hand. Under the umbrella was a delicate, white chin and red lips.

She gently lifted the umbrella, revealing a black birthmark half the size of a palm on her face.

But Lou Zixi didn't feel ugly, because he saw the woman's cut eyes, which were filled with autumn water, and their eyes were calm, as if they had the power to soothe people's hearts.

Making people consciously ignore the birthmark on her face.

She stopped in front of him, picked up the stick he dropped with her jade-white hands, and handed it to him: "Can you still stand up?"

Seeing the wooden stick staining her hands, Lou Zixi looked ashamed and quickly took it: "Yes, yes."

He stood up with the support of the wooden stick, but he was afraid that the woman would stare at his broken leg, so he kept his head down the whole time, not daring to look at her.

The woman did not look at him, but walked to the side and helped the shopkeeper who was beaten with a bruised nose and face. She seemed not to notice that a large area of ​​her plain clothes was stained.

"Thank you, Miss. I feel deeply guilty for staining your clothes."

Shopkeeper Chai was top-heavy and had just grabbed Murong Jiu's wrist to stand still. When he saw clearly, his expression changed.

This dress was made of fine brocade at first glance. Even if he and Lou Zixi were sold, they wouldn't be able to afford the compensation.

"It's just something external to the body, but it's you. You've contracted the cold. If you don't change into clean clothes, your condition will only get worse." Shopkeeper Chai was surprised: "How do you know?"

It was when he was queuing up to receive the steamed buns and porridge from the court that he noticed that his forehead was getting hot, but so what, he and Lou Zixi were now penniless. When they were kicked out by the Chen family, even the last items they had that could be exchanged for money were taken away. The servants searched him and took him away. He couldn't even eat anything, so how could he talk about curing his illness?

"I'm the doctor. I just felt your pulse."

Shopkeeper Chai was surprised. There were not many female doctors these days, but the woman in front of him was accompanied by bodyguards. She must be a lady from an official family. She was either rich or noble. It was really remarkable that she was willing to learn medical skills.

You can tell the problem just by briefly feeling your pulse, which shows that your medical skills are also very good.

"I also see that this young man's leg is crooked. If it is not corrected in time, he will be lame for the rest of his life."

"How could it be! That kind doctor clearly said it was ready..."

Shopkeeper Chai suddenly realized that there was no need for the woman in front of her to lie to her. If there was something wrong with Lou Zixi's legs, then the so-called kind doctor must have been deliberately brought by Mr. Chen to cure his legs!

He and Louzixi were originally from Yuanshui. In the spring of the new year, there was a flood in their area, and the whole city was submerged. His wife, children, and Louzixi's mother all died in the flood.

He originally owned a spice shop. Although he was not rich, he was considered a wealthy family.Lou Zixi is a scholar with a poor family background, but he is hard-working and talented. He is the accountant in his shop. He passed the provincial examination last year and is saving money to go to Beijing to take the exam.

The two families were enjoying themselves, but a flood destroyed everything.

Having no choice but to run out of options, Shopkeeper Chai took Lou Zixi to join the Chen family in the capital, a distant relative, to see if he could get a meritorious service in the spring of next year.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at Chen's house, just because Lou Zixi helped his cousin who almost fell down in desperation, the Chen family's son broke his legs and drove him out.

At that time, he helped Lou Zixi go around looking for medical clinics. When the doctors heard that the two of them had no money, they kicked them out. At this time, the kind-hearted middle-aged doctor appeared and offered Lou Zixi a leg for free.

If the young lady in front of me hadn't pointed out that there was something wrong with Lou Zixi's legs, and when he could walk in the spring of tomorrow, he would be a cripple, Lou Zixi might have been kicked out before he even entered the examination room.

Officials of the imperial court must not be described as deficient, let alone having inconvenient legs and feet.

Lou Zixi himself thought of this and turned pale.

Han Chuang has studied hard for many years. If he failed because of his legs, he would be really unwilling.

"What...what should we do? Miss, do you think his legs can be saved?"

Shopkeeper Chai asked anxiously.

Both of them looked at her as if looking at a life-saving straw, because Murong Jiu at this moment was like a light shining through the darkness, making them ignore her age and identity.

Under the gaze of the two people, Murong Jiu nodded and said, "Okay."

Lou Zixi breathed a sigh of relief.

Shopkeeper Chai felt relieved.

However, Murong Jiu's words made Shopkeeper Chai raise his head suddenly and his pupils tightened.

"Shopkeeper Chai, how about we go to the teahouse to discuss Mr. Lou's leg injury?"

She actually knew about them!

"This is not a good place to chat. There is a teahouse just outside the alley."

Shopkeeper Chai heard this and looked at Lou Zixi. They smiled bitterly in their hearts. Now besides listening to this young lady, what other choice do they have.

When they come to this refugee camp, they can't even get a bite of steamed buns.

After Shopkeeper Chai and Lou Zixi nodded, Murong Jiu did not take them to the teahouse immediately.

"Just a moment, you two."

She walked through the mud and walked towards the middle-aged man drinking wine against the wall under the eaves.

(End of this chapter)