Mikago

Ye Zuolan turned around hastily, and met a familiar face with white beard and hair, full of wrinkles.

"Uncle Zhong?!" He was stunned: "Why are you here?"

The old man called Uncle Zhong first pressed Ye Zuolan's shoulders, looked him up and down carefully, and only responded with a trembling voice after confirming that he was all right.

"Young master... I am different from those backward prostitute servants. I work in the mansion with a one-year contract. Those officials saw the contract text and did not arrest me. Madam therefore ordered me to look for you and Miss whereabouts."

Hearing her mother's instructions, Ye Zuolan hurriedly asked for details.

Uncle Zhong took his hand, and the two of them walked quickly to a leeward and remote corner, and then they spoke slowly.

"That was shortly after Miss went to the Imperial College to look for you, a group of officials in soap clothes came from outside the workshop, and broke into the front yard without any explanation. The leader, holding a roll of papers, claimed that the master had embezzled the flood control He also accepted bribes and exempted others from hard labor without authorization. The emperor was furious and ordered the house to be seized!"

"what?!"

Hearing this, Ye Zuolan's body was half cold.

"My father has been working at the Dushui prison for ten years, and he has never been greedy for a penny from others. Now that he has moved to the right for more than a month, how did he cause such a big disaster? Besides, such a big event as an official ransacking the house, especially if it happens overnight A decision that can be made?"

Uncle Zhong nodded and said: "At that time, Madam also raised the same question. But those officials sneered and said: "The emperor will investigate and punish the officials, should he still inform you, a woman?" Then he couldn't help saying that he would take her away! Madam Knowing that she can't escape this catastrophe, she can only ask: "Since ancient times, if a woman does not break the law herself, she does not need to be arrested even if she should be imprisoned. Now I am willing to go to the government office with you to prove my innocence, but please allow me to sort it out." Make up your clothes and put on your gauze hat.' Those officials almost nodded in agreement, and Madam went back to the inner hall..."

Having said that, Uncle Zhong couldn't help wiping his tears with his hand.

"Ma'am, she... She took out a bag of silver and handed it to me, then knelt down to me, and begged me to find the young master and young lady before the official sent, to keep you safe. After Madam was taken away, I rushed to Guozijian, but found nothing. So I secretly hid back in the mansion..."

He choked up for a moment, and told Ye Zuolan: "Ma'am, she also asked me to tell you that you must never take risks to meet her, and don't conflict with officials. If you have the opportunity, leave the capital and go far away. Maybe you can have..." There will be a day of goodbye."

At this point, Uncle Zhong was in tears, and Ye Zuolan was also weeping.

However, this place is not suitable to stay for a long time after all, and the two still return to the abandoned house and ancestral hall.After seeing Ye Yueshan, Uncle Zhong told the whole story again, and the three master and servant wept again.

Sadness is sad, but it is not without good things.

Uncle Zhong took out the money bag entrusted to him by Ye Mu. There were three silver collars of ten taels, five five taels, four one and a half silver collars and a few pieces of silver. In addition, there were some rings, gold bracelets and other jewelry.A rough calculation would be enough for them to spend more than a year.

When Ye Zuolan mentioned that they planned to join their uncle in Liuquan City, Uncle Zhong agreed.However, he also reminded that the wind is getting tight these few days, and there may be officers and soldiers investigating the gates of the major cities.It's better to get through this ten days first, wait for the city defense to relax, and then find a chance to escape.

"I have a daughter who is married to a family in the south of the city... a craftsman's wife. These few days I have gone out to do business with my husband, and it will take a few days before I can return. Why don't we go to their house to take refuge until my daughter and son-in-law return , they have their own ingenious ways to keep you two out of the city safely."

Although Uncle Zhong is not a slave of the Ye family, he has served the Ye family for more than 30 years, and his loyalty and reliability are better than others.Ye Zuolan's grandfather passed away early, and the siblings have always treated him as an elder.At this moment, with Uncle Zhong by his side, it was finally a reassurance.

Before I knew it, the night was deep.

________

Woke up early the next day, the street drum hadn't moved yet, but the three master and servant had already started to fight.

Uncle Zhong took dust and soiled the clothes of the two siblings, loosened their hair, and smeared their faces with mud.They also found a broken bamboo basket and a bamboo pole from the yard, and dressed them up as grandparents begging.When the Guxiangfang opened, Yueshan and Zuolan supported Uncle Zhong, and walked outside tremblingly.

At the foot of the emperor, the head of a country, the most important things are naturally "feng shui" and "prestige".

According to legend, when the first national teacher of the previous dynasty was ordered to plan Zhaojing, he mapped the positions of Ziwei, Taiwei and Tianshi Sanyuan on a small chessboard.After careful deduction, the final plan is to become the capital of Zhaojing, a thoroughfare from north to south, smooth roads from east to west, and a dotted with [-] mile squares.

In the early years of the founding of the Daning Dynasty, Zhaojing was ravaged by soldiers, and more than half of the [-] Lifangs were empty.Taizu Zhao Huachun ordered the family members of the army to move from various townships to Zhaojing to fill the population.In the next hundred years, the neighborhoods and alleys were prosperous.

However, during the Ningguang period of Lingzong, an earthquake occurred in Lin'an County, and the important water source in the south of Zhaojing was cut off, and the residents in the south began to move out one after another.Up to now, only the poor and destitute can barely live.

Ye Zuolan was taught since she was a child that she was not allowed to go south of the city when going out.However, at this moment, he was about to break this common sense.

Uncle Zhong's daughter lives in Dayefang, not far from the south gate of Zhaojing.But from Chongrenfang, it needs to cross half of the capital.Ye Zuolan didn't think it was hard work without cows and horses, but Ye Yueshan was out of breath after only walking through two neighbourhoods.

In this way, the three of them stopped and walked, and finally saw the Dongfang Gate of Dayefang at noon.

Ye Zuolan looked up at this Nanfang, which he had never seen before - he saw that the upper half of the wall was hit by smoke and rain, and the lower half was splashed with mottled mud spots, and even covered with remnants of documents captured by the sea. Beifang is clean and tidy.

Looking at the dilapidated gate, there are holes and cracks wider than fingers everywhere, it seems that just a gust of wind can make it fall down.

Ye Yueshan had never been to this lowly and dirty place, so she shrank behind Ye Zuolan in fright.Uncle Zhong told them not to be afraid, just follow him to the inside.

Behind the gate is a dark corridor about ten steps long. There is a small door on the right wall. An old man who is watching the gate is lying in the doorway. He smells of alcohol and is very drunk.But just as they passed the small gate, the old man suddenly twitched a few times, and opened his eyes suddenly, both eyes were as gray as dead fish.

Ye Zuolan gasped, but Ye Yueshan was already screaming.

Uncle Zhong hurriedly comforted him, and before the blind old man who guarded the door came over, he led the siblings to walk forward quickly.

Entering the gate of Dedongfang, I saw that the inside of Dayefang was full of weeds and crooked trees, and I couldn't see any buildings for a while.Another ten or twenty steps straight forward, a high wet wooden wall suddenly appeared in front of him, and he didn't know what tricks were hidden inside.

Ye Zuolan stopped for a while in front of the wooden wall, when she suddenly heard crying, faintly floating out from inside the wall.

Since the road was blocked by the wooden wall, the three masters and servants had no choice but to continue walking north against the base of the wall.After about fifty or sixty steps, a gap finally appeared in the wall, and a dilapidated wooden shelf door was built in the style of the gate. On the door hung a similarly dilapidated plaque that read "Nanshi" two words.

Nanshi?

Ye Zuolan knew that there were two cities in the capital, east and west, where merchants gathered and people were buzzing.But what is this "South City" in front of me?

Curious in his heart, he walked towards the door unknowingly.

The planning of the two cities of East and West is roughly along the central cross street of Lifang, with shops on both sides lined up, row upon row and in an orderly manner.However, looking around this Nanshi, there is only one word "chaos" to describe it.

There are large and small wooden cages everywhere, and there are thick and rusty iron chains everywhere.The east and west pools on the ground were covered with reddish-brown stagnant water, emitting an indescribable stench.What really made Ye Zuolan unacceptable were the "commodities" locked in those wooden cages and on iron chains.

Crying young children, young women with faded faces, wounded men who glared at them even though their hands were bound, and Kunlun slaves with dark skin and curly hair...

In Nanshi, there is only one kind of goods sold - people!