The daily struggles of divorced women in ancient times

It was almost night when Xia Mianwan and his three companions arrived at the other end of the tunnel. After traveling all the way here, they were already exhausted and decided to rest here for a night and go up before dawn the next day.

After the four of them had discussed it, Sun Bo took out an hourglass and asked, "Shall we set out at 3:00 pm tomorrow?"

Xiao Wu nodded and said, "It's just right to set off at Yin time. Even if the sun rises early in spring, it should still be dark at Yin time."

At this time, Xia Mianwan slowly took out a few baked breads from the sheepskin bag on his back and distributed them to everyone.

It was the first time Sun Bo had eaten bread. Seeing that this thing that looked like a steamed bun cut with a knife was so sweet, he couldn't help but ask, "What is this? I have seen a lot in Yanzhou City, but I have never eaten this before."

"It's bread. I came up with this food myself. Mainly because it can be eaten cold and will not go bad even if left for a few days. It is convenient to eat when I'm out, so I brought it with me." Xia Mianwan explained with a smile.

"Mianwan is such a capable person!" Sun Bo really admired Xia Mianwan. This young lady looked quiet and spoke softly, but she was very organized in her work and had a very long-term vision. She was not a wonderful person that could be raised by an ordinary family.

Silent all night.

As soon as the Yin hour arrived, Xiaowu was the first to wake up.

"The time's up." As they were already at the open space under the rockery, Xiao Wu didn't dare to shout too loudly. He didn't know what the situation was up there, and if he spoke too loudly he was afraid someone might hear him.

The other three also got up one after another after hearing the noise. After Qianqian tidied herself up a bit, the four of them climbed up one by one.

When we got up there, it was still dark.

Sun Bo’s house is not small, but in such a big house, there is no light anywhere.

"It seems like there's no one here." Xia Mianwan said in a low voice.

Sun Bo thought for a moment and said, "You guys follow me."

Sun Bo said, and he led the three people to a relatively remote courtyard. "This is the most remote courtyard in the whole house. Usually no one comes here, and I have left it idle for a long time. Let's wait here first. There is a side door here that leads directly to Dongmen Old Street. After daybreak, if there is someone in the house, it will be convenient for us to go out, and it will not be easy for others to find us when we come back."

"it is good."

Sun Bo opened the door of one of the main rooms in the courtyard, and with the dim candlelight, Xia Mianwan could see the whole room clearly. However, the table was covered with dust, and the bed seemed to have not been slept in for a long time.

The four of them each found a corner and sat down, then Sun Bo closed the door and extinguished the candle.

The waiting time was extremely long. As time passed by bit by bit, Xia Mianwan suddenly felt a little... uneasy.

What's going on in the outside world...

If there were corpses everywhere, would she be able to bear it?

Its daybreak.

After Xia Mianwan stood up, he took a deep breath and said, "Let's go."

Sun Bo led the three people to the gate of this side courtyard, "This is it."

Xia Mianwan looked around and saw that the wall was not particularly high, so he turned around and asked Uncle Sun, "Uncle Sun, is there anything on the wall to prevent thieves?"

Sun Bo thought for a moment and said, "This yard is very remote, there should be some broken bamboo pieces, but there are no more or no more."

Xia Mianwan looked at Xiaowu and motioned Xiaowu to go up and take a look outside first.

Xiaowu understood what Xia Mianwan meant, so he moved a chair from the room and used the strength to climb up the courtyard wall.

Xiaowu stretched his head and looked outside. The usually bustling Dongmen Old Street was now extremely deserted, with not a single person to be seen.

"What's going on, Xiaowu?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Xiao Wu shook his head, "There's no one outside."

"Is there a corpse?" Xia Mianwan asked.

"No... the streets are clean."

After checking, there was really no one there, so Xiaowu used his strength to climb down again.

Xia Mianwan sighed in disappointment. This is troublesome. There are neither dead nor alive people outside. What is this? Even if I want to ask, I can't find anyone to ask.

"Xiao Wu, I want to go up and take a look." Xia Mianwan thought it would be better to see it with his own eyes.

Xiaowu took a look at the courtyard wall and showed an embarrassment on his face... The wall was not high for him, but for Xia Mianwan, it might still be quite high.

Sun Bo understood what Xiao Wu meant at a glance, "I remember that all the woodsheds in this yard have ladders, so this yard should have one too."

As he spoke, Sun Bo walked quickly towards the woodshed, and Zhou Chengze followed him, and sure enough, there was a ladder!

After Sun Bo and Zhou Chengze brought the ladder, Xia Mianwan bravely climbed up, saying to herself, "Luckily, I'm not afraid of heights."

Xia Mianwan did not climb up the courtyard wall, but just stood on the top step of the ladder and stretched his head to look outside.

Dongmen Old Street was originally one of the most lively old streets in Yanzhou City, but now it is so deserted that not even a dog can be seen.

Xia Mianwan watched for a while and found a grain store not far away. The signboard of the grain store was still there, and it looked like it was newly hung.

"Uncle Sun, wasn't this grain shop on Dongmen Old Street formerly called Wang's Rice Shop?" Xia Mianwan asked.

Sun Bo couldn't hear clearly, "What Wang Ji?"

Xia Mianwan thought that Sun Bo didn't understand why he was asking this, so he explained: "When I first came to Yanzhou, I also visited this old street. I vaguely remember that this grain shop didn't seem to be called "Wang Ji Rice Shop"? "

Now Sun Bo finally understood, "Yes, it's not called Wang's Rice Shop. This grain shop is owned by the Zhao family, so it's called Zhao's Rice Shop."

After making sure that he was not mistaken, Xia Mianwan suddenly had an idea.

Why would a grain store change owners during a war? Especially in a place that was massacred by rebels?

Since the rebels burned, killed and looted as soon as they entered the city, why would they care about the reputation of this grain shop?

If a place wants to be stable, food stability must be the first priority. The chaotic times have led to the Yanzhou City, where the food in the fields has been almost wasted. If we want to stabilize the people's hearts, we must first ensure the stability of the grain shops and make sure that the people do not go hungry.

So who needs to stabilize the people's hearts and minds?

Definitely not the rebels.

Since they are not rebels, they must be the army that is suppressing the rebellion.

Thinking of this, Xia Mianwan breathed a sigh of relief. If his guess was correct, there shouldn't be any major problems with Yanzhou City.

While Xia Mianwan was deep in thought, several yamen runners arrived at the door of Wang's Rice Shop. Among them, a sturdy man was obviously dressed differently from the other yamen runners, and he was directing them to stand in two lines at the door of the grain shop.

The sturdy man did not turn around, only his back was visible. Xia Mianwan could not see the sturdy man's appearance clearly, but... the sturdy man's back... why did it look so familiar?

Xia Mianwan couldn't help but frown and began to think, where... had I seen this before?