A piece of Japanese incense

Chapter 193 Pipa

When Zhi Yihe rushed to the hall, Jiang Yu and his mother heard the noise, straightened their clothes and expressions, and greeted her a little stiffly.

"Mrs. Zhi, thank you for helping me find my daughter and arranging a job for my son. I really can't express my gratitude in words." Jiang Yu's mother said excitedly.

Zhi Yihe kindly helped Jiang Yu sit down and said slowly, "Please sit down, Grandma. You are tired from the journey and you should have a good rest. I am really sorry to have troubled you to wait here for so long."

Ma Hao quickly replied, "My lady, what are you talking about! You have cleared my sister's grievances and punished the evildoer who forcibly took my sister as a concubine. Now you have arranged a job for a humble person like me. I, Ma Hao, am willing to serve you. I should be your slave!"

Zhi Yihe observed Jiang Yu's expression and said lightly, "No need to be so polite. I just asked you to leave your hometown and come to Sanchuan. Just get used to it."

"I'm used to it! I'm used to it!" Ma Hao responded repeatedly.

Zhi Yihe saw Jiang Yu sitting upright the whole time, thinking that they couldn't act rashly, so after arranging their accommodation, they left.

In the following days, Ma Hao became a gardener in the courtyard. Zhi Yihe would "run into" him every day and chat with him: "Brother Ma, I see your little sister's bracelet is very unique, did you make it yourself?"

"To answer your question, young master, I don't have such skills. That bracelet belonged to my mother and was originally given to my younger sister as a dowry."

Zhi Yihe asked curiously: "Oh, is that... an ancestral treasure?"

"Well, that should be it."

Zhi Yihe continued to ask tentatively: "So, did your mother leave you any things to marry? I saw that when you came... you didn't have much luggage..."

"No more... In order to treat my father and I, we sold everything we could..."

Zhi Yiyu said with emotion: "Hearing what happened, I believe that you must have been seriously injured. The last time I sent you home, I observed that your family was indeed poor. I think all your belongings have been sold."

Ma Hao scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Don't be afraid of being laughed at by the young master, my family has always been like this. My father has been taking the imperial examination for half his life, but he is just a scholar. He usually makes a living by copying books and writing couplets."

"Is that so... Then where did you get the money to treat your injuries? And when your father died, how was he buried?"

Ma Hao sighed: "Ah! Young Master is right, I have never thought about this. But when mother first came home, she was indeed very luxurious, wearing gold and silver. Maybe she sold all these for us..."

Zhi Yihe couldn't help but ask, "Wait! You said, your mother is home?"

Ma Hao immediately corrected nervously: "No, no! I just said it casually."

After a few days of investigation, Zhi Yihe learned that Jiang Yu and her husband moved to the capital more than ten years ago. Although their life was hard, they still chose to move to the imperial city, and they must have had a purpose.

After some consideration, Zhi Yihe decided not to waste any more time and went straight to confront Jiang Yu.

After some pleasantries, Zhi Yihe got to the point: "Mother-in-law, I actually have a selfish motive for helping you and Xiao Ma. My father's mother once had a personal maid, but because of the war, they were separated. My father has been looking for this sister who took care of him for many years, so he drew her portrait and searched everywhere."

Jiang Yu was not moved after hearing this. Zhi Yihe continued, "When I saw you, I felt very close to you. After returning home, I carefully compared your portrait with my father's. It was exactly like you when you were 20 years younger!"

Zhi Yihe's slightly humorous tone gradually faded, and he solemnly unfolded the portrait: "If you see this portrait with your own eyes, you will be amazed that it looks exactly like you."

Jiang Yu smiled slightly and responded calmly: "It is an honor for me to be similar to the portrait in your home. It is a rare blessing for me to have this."

Zhi Yihe said calmly: "Mother-in-law may not know that I am actually from Xiqi. My father has been looking for my grandmother for many years, but he has never found her. Now I am homeless. My father has been trying to find a way home all his life, and my family members are all imprisoned. I am the only one left wandering outside."

Jiang Yu's brows inadvertently fell on Zhi Yihe's eyes. She suddenly held her hand and said solemnly: "Mother-in-law, you know that my last name is "Zhi". "

Jiang Yu's face turned pale in an instant, and he was frozen in shock at that moment.

Zhi Yihe stared at her face and whispered softly, "Daddy often tells stories about his childhood. He was very naughty and liked to catch butterflies by the river, often falling into the water. For Daddy's safety, Grandpa planted lotus flowers all over the square pond. Every sunset, Grandpa and Grandma would hold Daddy's hand and take a walk in the garden. Did Grandma also walk in the garden?"

Jiang Yu opened his mouth slightly and his jaw kept trembling.

"Grandma, do you have pierced ears? I heard from daddy that my grandmother had an eye disease and had to wear earrings. It's a family legacy. Feel it! I have pierced ears too!" Zhi Yihe led Jiang Yu's hand to touch her ears.

"Do you have ginkgo leaf earrings? Look at the engraved silver ring worn by the woman in the painting. It has a lot of similarities with the pattern of your daughter's bracelet. Grandma..."

"Girl!" Jiang Yu interrupted her, slowly put his hands on Zhi Yihe's brows, and then went down along the bridge of her nose, extending from both sides of her nose to her ears, with his fingertips resting at her chin.

"Mother-in-law..."

Jiang Yu said in a hoarse voice: "Young lady mentioned the woman in the painting. I have indeed known her before."

Zhi Yihe excitedly grasped Jiang Yu's sleeves and raised his voice: "Mother-in-law!"

"She's dead."

Zhi Yihe was slightly stunned and asked in confusion: "What does grandma mean by this?"

"She failed to complete the young lady's request, so she ended her own life."

Zhi Yihe waited for a moment, but nothing came of it. He asked uncertainly, "Who entrusted you with this? Why did you commit suicide?"

"That day, her young lady could have escaped, but in order to save her, she was shot in the leg. In order to complete the mission of the two countries, her young lady had to pin all her hopes on her, but she was not able to live up to her expectations, her legs weakened and she rolled down the hillside, and she was in a coma for more than two months.

When she woke up, the world had changed. The country was gone, and she couldn't go home. Even the young lady and the young master had no news. She had no choice but to wait for someone to find her. But she waited for one year, two years, five years, ten years! She had long been forgotten.

So she married the scholar who saved her, and spent all her savings to help him study and raise his children.

She thought that it was fine to live her life like this day by day, but one day, when she took her little daughter to the street to buy fabric, a group of people rushed out and took her daughter away.

She was unable to resist and risked exposing her identity to report to the police, only to find out that the person who kidnapped her daughter was Lord Bai, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Her husband's spine was broken and her son was beaten to the point of lying in bed, unable to get up.

Later, in order to save the lives of her family, her daughter stayed in the Bai family as a concubine. Although she was somewhat favored, she had no children, and the main wife and the concubines beat and scolded her.

Later, her daughter found an opportunity and went home. She accompanied her daughter to worship the goddess of fertility, Guanyin. She finally got her daughter pregnant, but she disappeared from then on.

They reported the matter to the authorities and looked for her husband's family, but to no avail. Her husband was severely beaten by her husband's family and her son was covered in blood, but their family had no money for medical treatment.

For her husband and son, she sold the only treasure left to her by her mistress. She took the money and hired a doctor, but when she got home, her husband had passed away and her son was unconscious.

After handling the funeral, she felt guilty about her mistress, so she strangled herself to death to atone for her sin.

Jiang Yu spoke slowly, and Zhi Yihe was silent for a few seconds before finally uttering two words with difficulty: "Sold? Then... who did you sell it to? What did the buyer look like? What was sold? I heard it was a musical instrument, but is it true? How much did you sell it for?"

"It was a pipa, sold to an old woman, and there was a young lady in the car."

Zhi Yihe's eyes were wide open, his pupils seemed to be trying to absorb this sudden information, and the whites of his eyes were exposed more than usual, as if they were about to jump out of his eye sockets.

The body seemed to be immobilized, unable to move, and the arms and legs seemed to have lost all strength. He could only stand there, unable to react.