An Ruochen was startled, subconsciously dropped the flower branch and ran towards the yard. It was only after I ran to the side that I realized that this was the courtyard of my eldest brother An Ronggui. At the courtyard gate, there was a young servant standing guard at the gate, but he seemed unable to hear the tragic screams in the courtyard, and only looked at An Ruochen vigilantly.

An Ruochen suddenly understood, and took three steps back, feeling angry and hurt in his heart.

"Big sister." An Ruofang also arrived, seeing this situation, she hugged An Ruochen's waist in fright. An Ruoxi stood behind them, her face pale.

The cry of the little girl in the yard for help and begging to stop intertwined with An Ronggui's shouting and cursing. An Ruochen felt chills down his spine and froze on the spot. An Ruoxi came over to pull An Ruofang, An Ruofang tightly hugged An Ruochen's waist. An Ruoxi simply summoned her hand and called the maid and mother-in-law to come over and drag the two of them away together.

Later, An Ruochen heard the commotion outside, and the servants were saying that a new girl in An Ronggui's courtyard had committed suicide by jumping into a well. He also said that the eldest young master was in a good mood today, and he drank a few more glasses with the master, and in a blink of an eye, he fell in love with the little girl.

An Ruochen felt nauseated, and said she was sick during dinner and refused to eat. Later, the nanny said angrily, Anping sent someone to call the little girl's family, let them take away the body, and gave them a small amount of funeral expenses. Said that the girl was clumsy and dropped a valuable antique vase, according to the rules she was punished, and she jumped into the well for fear of making her lose money. The family was crying in the backyard.

An Ruochen didn't know what was wrong with her, so she quietly ran to the backyard to have a look. It was a couple from a poor family who could be seen at a glance. There is a crutch beside the man, and he seems to be disabled. The couple fell to the ground crying, they couldn't believe that their daughter just went there. She signed a three-year contract of selling herself, but unexpectedly, life and death were separated by only one month. Anping even coaxed and threatened, saying that the boss would not pursue the vase, and asked the girl's family to bury the person properly, so that they would not even get the last bit of money.

The couple finally took away the dead body of their daughter with tears in their eyes. An Ruochen watched secretly from a distance, feeling as cold as a pond. If she entered Qian's family, maybe it would be like this, but her father would not cry.

An Ruochen quietly returned to her yard. Not long after she sat down, An Ruofang came, and the little girl cried until her eyes were red. Without saying a word, he ran in and saw that there was no one around, he stuffed a cloth bag into An Ruochen's hand, turned and ran away.

An Ruochen opened the cloth bag, which contained some scraps of silver, copper plates, and some small jewelry. An Ruochen had a sore nose and almost shed tears.

On the second day, the atmosphere in the mansion was not very good, and all the villains were trembling. And An Ronggui acted as if nothing had happened, without reflection. An Zhifu and Mrs. Tan, the second roommate, said that the girl didn't know what to do, and she jumped into the well. Who should she show her to?

An Ruo couldn't even eat breakfast, so she hid in the house. She thought that if she was that girl and suffered such a bad luck, she would definitely die first, and would be happy if she killed that villain first. But she imagined the murder scene and felt horrible again. Maybe if it was her, she wouldn't dare to do it. Thinking wildly, the more I think about it, the more determined I am to escape, leave here, leave these dark-hearted people.

It's just that An Ruochen never expected that there would be twists and turns.

At dinner that day, Qian Pei came. He was flushed and smiling. An Zhifu was also overjoyed, held a big banquet, invited singing girls, and entertained Qian Pei at home. An Ruochen listened a few times, and knew that it was Qian Pei who brought back the jade goods for his father, and his father hosted a banquet to thank him. The banquet lasted until late at night, and Qian Pei left after enjoying himself. And An Ruochen was called to the study, An Zhifu said that he had something to ask her.

When An Ruochen arrived there, he saw that An Ronggui was also there, as well as the Tan family of the second room and the Duan family of the fourth room. Tan's face was sullen, while Duan's eyes were red. Seeing this scene, An Ruochen felt uneasy and didn't dare to think about what happened. She saluted and greeted Ann, and stood aside to wait for words.

At first An Zhifu didn't care about her, he just scolded Sifang Duan, saying it was bad luck for her to cry. He also scolded An Ronggui for being useless, because the audience did not understand the joke Master Qian said just now. The second room, Mrs. Tan, scolded her son, and hurriedly defended her. Dao Ronggui is only fifteen, but he has a decent business, and Ronggui deserves some credit for the good business of the shop.

An Ruochen bowed her head and listened quietly, thinking about pigs, dogs, cows, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese in her heart, and when she read it for the twenty-sixth time, she finally heard An Zhifu calling her name. He said: "I called you here to teach you that Master Qian has fallen in love with Ruofang, and the marriage has already been settled. On the twenty-fourth day, your sisters will get on the sedan chair together. Ruofang is young and ignorant, you need to teach her more." her some."

It was a bolt from the blue! An Ruochen was stunned, her mind buzzed, and she fell to her knees: "Father, Fourth Sister is only twelve years old."

Sifang Duan was sobbing again.

An Zhifu glared at Duan impatiently, and said to An Ruochen: "So this is not telling you, you take Ruofang with you, and take good care of her in Qian's house, the two sisters don't fight each other. Ruofang is young , you should take care of her in everything."

An Ruochen couldn't believe it. It turned out to be so, it turned out to be so! All things are clear. Why did the marriage matter have to be discussed in secret in Tan's courtyard, why An Ruoxi was suddenly friendly to An Ruofang, she was not flattering, she was guilty, she was pitiful and sympathetic. An Ruoxi knew what happened, maybe she was talking about her co-marriage, not the fourth sister, she was afraid that if the marriage went wrong, she would have to take the blame, that's why she reacted violently to the loss of her reputation last time.

An Ruochen knelt on the ground and bowed his head, not daring to look at An Zhifu at all. She was afraid that she would not be able to hide her anger, and she was afraid that she would not be able to control what she would say that made her regret. There are still five days, only five days before she leaves! She just needs to endure another five days!

An Ruochen trembled a little, she thought she was angry, but she found that she was very scared. Daddy actually made such a kiss, and he didn't hesitate to give his twelve-year-old daughter to that old **** to ruin! How did she leave? ! How does she leave? !

"Father, we settled down in Zhonglan City and we have a reputation. Your daughter is not worried about marrying. Isn't it a joke for two daughters to marry a husband?" An Ruochen knew that he should pretend to be good, but he opened his mouth. But I heard myself saying this.

Sure enough, An Zhifu frowned and scolded: "You know what! If it wasn't for the help of Master Qian to get back the goods, our An family would be finished! He fell in love with Ruofang, that's our An family's blessing!"

An Ruochen understood that Dad had been tricked by Qian Pei. Qian Pei must have set his sights on Fourth Sister at first. If you think about it carefully, it is true. Every time Fourth Sister stood next to her, Qian Pei looked at her with a particularly lewd gaze. At that time, she didn't think about anything else, she just thought it was her. But it turned out that it was the fourth sister! Now those things in the rumors can also be matched. This old **** Qian likes young girls, this **** bastard, he has evil thoughts about her sister! But in the beginning when he talked about marriage, he wanted the fourth sister as soon as he opened his mouth. The fourth sister was young and feared that his father would not agree, so he made an appointment with her.

So cunning, so black-hearted! It's so disgusting that it makes people want to vomit!

An Ruochen only felt her heart and lungs ache from the burning of anger, she lowered her body with a humble posture, but said loudly: "Father, but this is too ridiculous. Not only is it ridiculed, but our family has also suffered a lot. Think about it, if the fourth sister marries into a powerful family in the future, how can the benefits be compared to a jade shop."

Sifang Duan hurriedly said: "Miss is right." She also didn't want her daughter to marry a pervert.

An Ruochen said again: "Furthermore, the goods in this shop are not only in a hurry this time, but also in the future. He uses this matter to hold daddy today, what about in the future?"

An Ronggui yelled: "You woman is knowledgeable. Once the marriage is settled, the goods will be delivered. After you pass through the door, our Qian'an family will be in-laws. That's not easy to discuss. Besides, the marriage ceremony has been settled. There is no reason to repent."

An Ruochen's mind was buzzing, and she continued to bite the bullet: "Father, this business is beneficial to all parties. Master Qian helped you, so he won't suffer a loss, he also made a lot of money in it The bowl is full. If Daddy makes him feel easy to handle today, how can he fight for profit in the future? How can this business last for a long time if he is always overpowering Daddy?"

An Zhifu frowned and said nothing, but when An Ruochen said it to his heart, he forgot for a moment how this useless eldest daughter suddenly became smart.

An Ruochen said again: "My daughter is stupid, but she thinks that if you give all the benefits, you will have no bargaining chips in your hand. Wouldn't you be led by the nose when talking about things in the future? Although the etiquette of marriage is set, But Dad still has room for mediation. How about this, I will marry first, and after two or three years, I will gain a firm foothold in Qian's mansion, and my fourth sister will grow up. Okay. I married, and the two families are in-laws. Naturally, Mr. Qian can't say anything. The business has been settled in the past few years, and my father is also at ease. As for the fourth sister, it is impossible to say whether there will be any princes and grandchildren in the past few years. , when the time comes, daddy will pick a good one. If someone beats Master Qian, Master Qian will not dare to say anything else. If it is not as good as Master Qian, it is reasonable for the fourth younger sister to come in again when she grows up." It must be delayed for a while, Only by procrastinating will there be a chance.

"That's right, that's right." Mrs. Sifang Duan wiped her tears and agreed, "What the eldest girl said is absolutely true."

An Zhifu didn't speak, he was thinking. Erfang Tan and An Ronggui couldn't fault An Ruochen's words, and they couldn't say anything. Finally, An Zhifu said that he would discuss with Qian Pei again.

An Ruochen went back to the room, closed the door, and slumped to the ground, only to realize that her clothes were soaked through the nervousness.

How did she escape? Once she escaped, the fourth sister's marriage to Qian Pei would definitely be impossible to avoid. If she didn't run away, would Qian Pei try to kill Simei quickly in order to let Simei pass through the door quickly?

An Ruochen stayed up all night, his mind was full of chaos. She thought of her mother, the scene when she first had the idea of ​​leaving this house, and she thought of deliberately robbing her sisters of her father's rewards in order to save money. In fact, she didn't care about those little jewelry at all. She didn't want to smile at her father, but she just smiled. She flattered her for a silver hairpin. She was twelve years old that year, exactly the age of Fourth Sister.

She remembered that when she was fifteen years old, she participated in the Pingxiu Mountain Flower Appreciation Party, where she met a young man she liked, who was personable and well-spoken. She remembered that his surname was Sun. Mr. Sun must have had a good impression of her at first, he struck up a conversation with her and gave her some snacks. Later, when he heard that she was the eldest lady of Anfu, he asked, "But the Anfu of Master Anzhifu in the east of the city?" She said, "Yes." Then he smiled politely and distanced himself from her.

She remembered that when she was sixteen years old, her father wanted to marry her into the royal family. The prince was lustful and prodigal, had a lot of concubines, and often went to brothels. An Ruochen naturally did not want to marry, but she could not tell her father clearly. She took advantage of the opportunity of being a guest of the Wang family to play kites with Miss Wang's family, and found out that the business of the Wang family seemed to be losing a lot, the monthly money in the lady's courtyard was less, and the clothing materials and other things distributed were not as good as before. An Ruochen took advantage of the opportunity to sneak into the account book while no one was around, and confirmed that it was correct, and then deliberately leaked about the Wang family's affairs with Yi Niang, who came to Anfu's clothing factory. The garment maker had also heard about this matter, after all, most of the big households in the city turned to her shop to make garments, and she knew how much money would be spent on what materials to use. After what An Ruochen said, she added more details and talked about it elsewhere. up.

So the mother-in-law of Anfu knew about it, the servants knew about it, and Anping also knew about it. Of course, this matter also reached An Zhifu's ears. An Zhifu inquired carefully, and it turned out that the Wang family was a beautiful family but not very luscious. An Zhifu didn't want to suffer this loss, so he immediately found an excuse and called off the marriage.

An Ruochen remembered the joy she felt after escaping the catastrophe, as if it was yesterday. But it seems to be very far away, like the last life.

She thought she was a little clever, a little lucky, and with the help of generals and nobles, she would eventually escape from this rat's nest. But in the end, it turned out to be like this...

An Ruochen didn't know when she fell asleep. She heard her mother crying, she said mother, don't cry, her daughter is fine. But before the words fell, she heard the scream of the girl who threw herself into the well again. She remembered the scream, she ran over and saw the well, but she didn't remember what the girl looked like. Shouldn't have gone, but she still went to the well and looked down, the well was very dark, but she could see clearly, there was a person floating on the water surface, the person suddenly turned over, it was herself, it was her An Ruochen s face.

For a moment, she seemed to be no longer at the well, but in the well, in the water. She couldn't breathe, she was dying. Then she heard Fourth Sister's scream, very shrill.

"Don't touch my sister!" She yelled angrily, but somehow she was out of the water again. A dagger appeared in her hand, she didn't think about anything, she just pulled the fourth sister behind her and stabbed the old man in the chest with the dagger. She didn't even know who it was, she couldn't see if it was Qian Pei, she stabbed one after another, blood spurted out and sprayed into her eyes. She screamed loudly, she found the blood was hers, her eyes, nose, mouth, whole body was bleeding, she screamed and couldn't stop...

"Miss! Miss!"

An Ruochen woke up suddenly, took a big breath and took a long time to realize that she was dreaming. The maid looked at her worriedly: "Miss, did you have a nightmare?"

An Ruochen nodded blankly, and slowly returned to her sanity. It's a dream! But like the real thing!

An Ruochen fell ill that day. When she woke up, she found that her clothes were soaked in cold sweat again, her head was heavy, her eyes hurt, and her voice was hoarse. The mother-in-law reported her illness, invited the doctor to come to see her, and made medicine for her to drink. She didn't go out of the house, but An Ruofang came to see her.

An Ruofang looked the same, and she didn't know what happened. An Ruochen silently prayed to God, hoping that his father and Qian Pei would have a good talk, and that An Ruofang would come in a few years later.

"Why is sister sick?" An Ruofang wiped An Ruochen's face with her newly embroidered handkerchief, "This is my newly embroidered handkerchief, give it to sister, sister, you need to get better soon."

"Okay, sister will be fine soon." An Ruochen smiled and patted An Ruofang's little head. She returned the purse that An Ruofang gave her earlier, the little girl was a little unhappy, but when she heard that she was ill, she was still worried about her. Among her relatives, only this younger sister is sincerely kind to her. She is so young, only twelve.

There are still five days until October 15th, An Ruochen is very sad, she can't escape.

She is going to marry Qian Pei, and it will be a few years for her younger sister. In the past few years, she has tried to find a way to give fourth sister Zhang Luo a close relationship. She didn't believe that there would be no one in Zhonglan City who could marry fourth sister and hold Qian Pei down. By the way, General Dragon. Didn't daddy just want to climb up to General Long because he wanted to curry favor with him? He didn't dare not listen to General Long's words. She couldn't escape, she wanted to look for another chance to have the audacity to ask General Long, and General Long stepped forward to say goodbye to Fourth Sister. With so many subordinates under him, or the sons of other good families he knows, he must have a way. She kowtowed to him, and then begged him to save her sister. There are still a few years to go, no matter how long it takes fifteen to get married. Three years, three years is enough. She desperately wants to get things done within three years.

She can't escape, she can't die. If it still doesn't work in the end, then she... She suddenly thought of the scene in her dream, and her body shivered with fear.

An Zhifu did not return home that day. Nothing happened in Anfu. An Ruofang accompanied An Ruochen for a day.

On the second day, An Ruochen was much better. When she heard that An Zhifu hadn't returned all night, she was looking forward to it, but also a little scared. An Ruofang didn't come today for the meal she ate in her own room, so An Ruochen didn't care. She was full of thoughts about what to do, besides General Long, who else in the city could talk to her?

At this time, the maid suddenly came in to report that Miss Fourth was missing. An Ruochen was startled. After careful questioning, it turned out that An Zhifu came back at noon, not only came back by himself, he also brought back Qian Pei. The two talked and laughed happily, beaming. An Zhifu summoned all the households to announce that An Ruofang and An Ruochen were married on the same day and entered Qian's house together. Because An Ruochen was ill, he didn't call her over.

An Ruofang was there when the marriage was announced. The girl couldn't tell what was going on, she had heard it from others. In short, An Ruofang was frightened, she didn't know whether it was a quarrel or something, but she threw up money and Pei all over her body. An Zhifu slapped her on the spot and ordered her to back down. An Ruofang withdrew, and then disappeared.

"Now the big guys are looking for her everywhere." The servant girl said, "The concierge told me that she has never seen Miss Fourth go out. She must be hiding somewhere in the mansion."

After hearing this, An Ruochen quickly changed her clothes and went out of the yard to find someone. An Ruofang has always been close to her, and there are only a few places she likes to go to. She can probably guess it, but after looking around, she still can't find it. Then she suddenly thought of it, and hurried to the back of the four-bedroom courtyard.

There used to be a small courtyard, and An Ruofang kept a little yellow dog in it. She picked it up when she went out to play, she liked it very much, so she brought it back and raised it, and named it Xiao Huang. Under the guidance of the carpenter, they built a small wooden house for Xiao Huang with their own hands. Xiao Huang and An Ruofang are very close, once An Ronggui scolded An Ruofang for a trivial matter, Xiao Huang barked fiercely at An Ronggui. After that, An Ronggui sent someone to beat Xiao Huang to death. An Ruochen secretly buried Xiao Huang, lied to An Ruofang that Xiao Huang also wanted to marry a wife, and left quietly. An Ruofang was very sad, the small courtyard has since been abandoned.

An Ruochen ran to the courtyard, there were weeds growing around Xiaohuang's wooden house, almost waist high. An Ruochen poked the grass for a long time and finally found it. Bending down to take a look, I saw An Ruofang, who was terrified and full of tears, curled up and hid inside.

An Ruochen was so distressed that she almost cried. She tried her best to smile, and stretched out her hand to the fourth sister: "Fang'er, it's my sister. My sister is here."

When An Ruofang saw the eldest sister, she burst into tears with a "wow", crawled out of the wooden house, and threw herself into An Ruochen's arms all dusty and dirty: "Sister, sister! Daddy wants to marry me to that money Master, he is so scary, so scary..." She was crying, incoherent, unable to speak clearly, and could only repeat how scary.

"It's okay, it's okay." An Ruochen didn't know how to comfort her, so she hugged Fourth Sister tightly and stroked her back.

"He, he..." An Ruofang sobbed, trembling all over, "Dad asked me to sit next to him while eating, he, he, he touched my leg, I couldn't help it, I was so scared, I threw up... "

"It's okay, it's okay." An Ruochen buried her face on her younger sister's slender shoulders, tears finally welled up. "It's okay, it's going to be okay." I don't know if I said this to my sister or to myself.

The two sisters hugged each other and cried for a long time. An Ruofang snuggled into An Ruochen's arms, and suddenly said in a low voice, "Sister, please, let's run away."

An Ruochen froze. She looked up and met her sister's eyes.

An Ruofang begged with tears in her eyes: "Sister, I have money. Let's run away."

An Ruochen's heart was pounding, and he began to consider this possibility. Escaping by oneself is different from fleeing with the fourth sister. She is alone, her mother is no longer alive, she has no worries. But fourth sister's mother is still here, and she is still young, so it's okay for her to take her away?

Moreover, the goal of the two fleeing together is too big. The fourth sister's footsteps are slower than hers. If they leave home together, they will be chased back if they can't walk a street. Whether they can catch up with Jiang Zhong's motorcade will be a problem. Also, when the general told Jiang Zhong, he must have only mentioned her, and she would bring another one. What if Jiang Zhong didn't want to? What's more, if she is arrested by the government later, and she takes a little girl...the two of them flee together, there is almost no chance of success.

An Ruochen looked at his sister. An Ruofang pursed her lips and wiped her tears vigorously, looking at her sister with big eyes, there was trust, pleading, and hope in it.

An Ruochen looked at her, gritted his teeth for a long while, and said, "Don't be afraid. My sister is here for everything. My sister will take you away."

An Ruofang was shocked, and looked at the eldest sister in surprise.

An Ruochen took out her handkerchief, wiped her face carefully, and asked her: "You have thought about it, if you leave home, you will leave your mother. Would you like to see her again?"

An Ruofang bit her lips, "I'm afraid I won't see my mother again after marrying into the Qian family." As she spoke, tears fell again. "Sister, I don't want to be like Xiao Cui."

"Who is Xiaocui?"

"It's the girl who threw herself into the well." An Ruofang cried, "I found out, her name is Xiao Cui, she is only fourteen, only two years older than me."

An Ruochen hugged her sister tightly. She didn't know that girl's name was Xiaocui, so she didn't dare to ask. The new girl is not in her yard, she is not even sure if she has seen her.

"Elder sister doesn't want to be like Xiaocui either." An Ruochen held An Ruofang's face in her hands and let her look into her eyes, "Elder sister won't let you be like Xiaocui either. Elder sister will take you away, take you away Get out of here. We live on our own. My sister doesn't teach others to bully you."

An Ruofang burst into tears again, and nodded vigorously.

"It's just that life will be harder. But it doesn't matter, we will get through it, we will go to a place where no one knows us, and live a new life..."

Before An Ruochen finished speaking, he suddenly heard the rustling of the grass behind him. An Zhifu's youngest son, An Rongkun, who was only eight years old, came out and shouted at them: "Ha, I heard Here you go! You guys want to run away! I'm going to tell daddy!" As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and ran away.

An Ruochen and An Ruofang turned pale with shock.

An Rongkun moved extremely fast, and disappeared in a flash. When An Ruochen reacted, it was too late to stop her.