Mikago

Because of the delay between coming and going, it was not the end of the day for Ye Zuolan to return to Lu's house.

The door was open, Ye Yueshan was leaning against the door worriedly and looked out, as soon as she saw Ye Zuolan, she immediately went up to her.

"Why did you come back?" She scolded, "Aunt Zhu and Wal have already arrived home, and she said that you were separated from them in the Sparrow Pool... I'm so afraid that you won't come back, so what should I do? "

"Don't worry, I'm back, haven't I?" Ye Zuolan patted her sister's shoulder lightly, "Where is Aunt Zhu?"

"She and Uncle Lu are both in the main room. Just now, someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to communicate, as if they wanted them to send ten more clean men into the palace as soon as possible. This means...we will have a chance soon."

Speaking of this, Ye Yueshan's eyes shone slightly, but her brows were furrowed with a trace of anxiety.

Of course Ye Zuolan understood what her sister was afraid of.

Earlier, Lu Ying'er had told them the "best" way to get out of the city - the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked the Lu family's outer clean house five times a year for a total of fifty clean men.

Before each important person, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will give Lu Yinger a reward and a "Roster of Longevity Materials".

The so-called Shoucai refers to those who died of serious injuries during the purification process.Lu Ying'er registered the names, places of origin and a few words of all these dead people in the "Shoucai Roster", and then used the roster to transport the corpses out of the city for burial.

After this cleansing ceremony is over, the Lu family will hand over the "Roster of Longevity Materials" to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which is equivalent to returning the privilege of transporting corpses out of the city.

Now that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is coming to ask for someone again, this means that the Lu family's privilege of transporting corpses out of the city will come into effect again.As for Ye Zuolan and Ye Yueshan, they were able to get mixed up in the pile of corpses, but left Zhaojing quietly...

Creepy, yet vaguely exciting.

Ye Zuolan had fantasized about escaping from here countless times, leaving this southern city full of blood and death, filth and poverty.

However, when the east wind really blew, he couldn't feel the slightest joy in his heart.

"Why... do we always have to run away?"

Ye Zuolan looked at Ye Yueshan bitterly.

"Since what happened that day, I have been running away. I escaped from Chongrenfang, escaped from the claws of human traffickers, escaped from Quehua Lake, and now I am going to escape from Zhaojing again. Father, mother, Zhongbo... those people we care about , when they are in danger, when they are helpless, the only thing I can do is run far away..."

He lowered his head and looked at his hands that had begun to callous.Although these hands are much stronger than before, they are still empty, holding nothing.

"Sister, if Liuquan City still can't accommodate us, should we continue to escape?"

He continued to smile bitterly at Ye Yueshan: "When can I stay, stand up, speak and do things loudly, when can I continue to be the person I want to be?!"

Of course Ye Yueshan couldn't answer, because Ye Zuolan's words also aroused her sadness.

"Don't cry."

Ye Zuolan reached out and gently wiped away the moisture under her eye sockets.

"There will be a way, sister, at least I will protect you."

After saying this, he turned around and walked towards the main room.

------

The envoy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not left for a long time, and Lu Yinger and Zhu Zhuer were sitting in front of the hall, one on the left and the other on the right.On the table in the middle is a piece of paper spread out, and on the paper is a thin copy of the "Roster of Longevity Materials".

Ye Zuolan walked to the front of the hall, told the lie of "lost the food box, rope bed, and got the brocade robe", and then quietly waited for her punishment.

But who knows what kind of medicine Zhu Zhuer took wrongly today, she didn't even emit a spark, but smiled, just like a Maitreya Bodhisattva.

"Forget it, I took you out today because I wanted you to relax. It's my family who made you carry so many things on your back. You can go back and rest now, but starting from tomorrow, The work in the east courtyard is coming up, and you have to go to help."

Although Ye Zuolan was surprised, she didn't ask any further questions.He put Tang Ruilang's clothes on the stool beside him, took one last look, then turned and left.

After he walked away, Zhu Zhu'er and Lu Ying'er just looked at each other.Zhu Zhu'er frowned, and removed the "Roster of Longevity Materials" on the table, revealing the piece of paper pressed underneath.

What an autumnal ginkgo golden pond note, with two big characters written on it with only iron-painted silver hook-like brushstrokes.

"Lu You"

------------------

Waking up early the next day, the most important day of the year began at Lu Ying'er's house.

Those men brought by Lu Yinger and his wife from other places a few days ago were all called to line up in the backyard.

During these days, Zhu Zhu'er did not treat these people badly in terms of diet, and occasionally had a few meals of meat.The vast majority of people are not as tired and thin as when they first came here, but unfortunately their eyes are still dull, like a pool of stagnant water.

Lu Ying'er put on a black dress made of butterscotch gauze, with a black scarf wrapped around her head.He also called Wa'er and Zuolan to hold things in their hands, standing one on the left and the other on the right, just like two Dharma protector boys.

As for Zhu Zhu'er and Ye Yueshan, they stayed in the house separately and were strictly forbidden to come and go.

Lu Ying'er cleared her throat and yelled a few words towards the men in front of her.

"Brothers, you are all born in honest families. What you eat is the rice grown in the loess, and you have received the kindness of nurturing from the father's sperm and mother's blood. This is the so-called 'body, hair and skin, received by parents, dare not damage'. But Right now, all of you are about to perform a grand ceremony of purifying your body. If you cut off the root of lust, you will also cut off your incense and family ties. From now on, your body is not your own, nor does it belong to your family parents. You just If you become the emperor, you will regard the clan as the sky for the rest of your life. If anyone among you refuses to accept it and wants to go home to fulfill your filial piety, you can leave now. However, from now on, all life and death will be up to you, and you will be with me again. The knife maker has nothing to do with it!"

After saying these words in one breath, Lu Yinger stopped to catch her breath.And with eyes sharper than the blade of a knife, he looked around at everyone around him.

No one came out, spoke, or even moved.

Lu Ying'er seemed satisfied, so she nodded and continued shouting.

"The emperor of this dynasty has always ruled the country with benevolence. Therefore, the ritual of purifying the body is also different from that of the previous dynasty. Anyone who purifies the body does not need to circumcise, but only needs to remove the double pills. However, this kind of pain can still be treated. It’s heartbreaking! Not to mention those who are weaker and suffering from long-term illnesses, many of them will die immediately. If you are afraid, you can still leave at this moment!”

This time, Ye Zuolan saw the expressions of two short men change slightly.But still no one opted out.

It's true, ten to ten of those who followed Lu Ying'er and the others to Zhaojing to suffer this knife were the children of poor families, and there was no way out at all.

On the side, Lu Yinger started shouting again.

"After cleansing, you will be a middle-class person. You will be slaves in the palace, and you will be sent. Although you have food and clothing, you will no longer be free. You will be lonely in life, and you will not be buried in your hometown after death. If you are afraid, leave quickly!"

The men in a line have all bowed their heads.Weeping could be heard faintly in the silence.But as always, no one flinched.

"What are you doing in a daze?! Hurry up!"

Ye Zuolan shuddered suddenly when Lu Ying'er called her name, and then distributed the cleansing documents in her hands to those people.

The document was drawn up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it was densely packed with many trivial details related to the cleansing. The original intention was to inform the dangers of the ceremony, as well as the rest and maintenance for a few days after the cleansing.

However, none of the people who came to purify the body could read big characters, so they just took it over and flipped through it, and then pressed their fingerprints on it.

Ye Zuolan took back the fingerprinted document and handed it to Lu Yinger.After checking, Lu Yinger raised her hand in satisfaction and pointed to the east.

"Then let's pay homage to the patriarch."

Everyone filed into the small courtyard on the east side.After entering the door, it was the main room that Ye Zuolan had seen that day.

At this moment, in front of the main room, there were already three people who had already purified themselves, including Liu Er.

Liu Er and the others were the last batch to enter the East Courtyard to undergo purification.Those people were lucky. Thirteen out of 20 survived, and ten of them were called into the palace; the remaining three were raised in the East Courtyard for emergencies.

At this moment, the cleansed and the uncleaned met each other, and they both looked at each other without saying anything. Even Ye Zuolan, who was watching from the side, felt the stagnation of the atmosphere.

Still Lu Ying'er said: "After entering the palace, everyone is a colleague. If you have anything to say, ask, or say hello, hurry up."

The crowd remained silent for a while, and someone who was stunned asked stupidly: "That...how long will it hurt?"

The three of them who have been cleansed look at each other, and Liu Er replied with a blushing face, "It takes 20 days to raise well. If you don't raise well... it's a lifetime thing."

"Okay, okay." Lu Ying'er didn't let him continue, "Let's go pay homage to the patriarch."

The patriarch of the knife hand is Hua Tuo, but the patriarch of the eunuch, Sima Qian, is enshrined in the east courtyard.

Ye Zuolan didn't understand, after all, Sima Qian was not an eunuch, nor did he voluntarily purify himself.How did he become the patriarch of this industry?However, he thought about it again, from ancient times to the present, is there any eunuch who voluntarily purifies himself, who can compare to this one in fame?

It's really a reluctant business, and I found a reluctant ancestor.

Just as he was sighing, he saw that Lu Ying'er had already made several newcomers kneel down in front of the shrine, bowed a few times, and then turned to look at the tablets and tributes enshrined around the shrine, on the east and west walls.

The tablets are all longevity tablets, on which are written the names and taboos of all the princes and eunuchs in the palace in the past dynasties.Pointing to these tablets, Lu Yinger talked eloquently—this one invented papermaking; this one used to be an official prime minister; Being a king with a different surname...

Looking at the tribute enshrined in front of these longevity tablets, it is not a snack that is easy to spoil.

I saw red agate, cherry-pink tourmaline, and pea-green jadeite in the chiseled gold silver plate; buns carved with Hetian white jade were placed on the ebony tooth table, with a red spot on the top of the head.There are also crystal wine cups, rhinoceros horns...anything is better than Ye Kaiquan's cricket cage.

Lu Ying'er said, these are all enshrined here by the eunuchs in the palace, so they dare not mess around.If there is a daring thief who is caught by the righteous master, it will be the end of beheading hands and feet.

Speaking of which, there have been no robbers in this East Courtyard for at least 20 years.