Spring is the busiest time in the entire Mingtai County, and it is even more congested than during the harvest in autumn and winter.
But in the past few days, the whole city has been under martial law, and the government has imposed a curfew. The streets have been deserted since You hour, and no one even lights the lanterns on the streets.
The long street was silent for several miles, with only watchmen and occasionally soldiers on patrol.
Upstairs at Sihai Tea House.
Dai Yu closed the window for the ninth time and came back to sit down. The atmosphere in the room was silent, with Zhili and Mrs. Nie sitting nearby with their heads down.
There were footsteps outside the door, and Dai Yu, who had just sat down, quickly got up and walked over.
The visitor is the shopkeeper of Sihai Tea House.
"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news." The shopkeeper said as he came in, his expression serious.
"Bad news." Zheli said hurriedly.
"A large amount of blood was found and it was confirmed to be that woman's."
"My senior sister!" Zhili's face turned pale.
"Where's the good news?" Dai Yu asked hurriedly.
The shopkeeper suddenly burst into laughter, his eyebrows curved: "Luojiu Inn and Qianxue Mansion on Wanjin Chang Street each sent messages, they are all here!"
This time, Zhili and Dai Yu did not react.
After being stunned for a moment, Zhili shouted: "Shopkeeper Li, you are annoying!"
After saying that, he disappeared out the door in a flash.
"Luojiu Inn," Dai Yu repeated these words, "where is it?"
Miss Nie, who was sitting at the back, said very softly: "Go out from here and go east along the Sixteenth Avenue for two miles, cross a big water bridge, and you will be at the first house on the Qingshi Embankment."
"Dai Zhuangshi," the shopkeeper said, "the brother who calls himself Brother Wei is downstairs."
"Yes, it must be Wei Dongyou!" Dai Yu hurriedly ran out.
The shopkeeper looked at Miss Nie.
Mrs. Nie stood up awkwardly and gave him a blessing: "Shopkeeper, I..."
"You live here, you live here." The shopkeeper said, turned and left.
"What are you doing standing still?" A scattered figure appeared at the door of the room, shouting to Nie Qingling, "Come out, let's go!"
Nie Qingling pointed at herself: "Me?"
"Your eyes are shining with joy, don't be reserved, let's go!"
"..."
Those who came to pick up Zhili were Xia Songyue and Chen Dingshan.
As soon as he returned to the house, Zhili let go of Nie Qingling's hand and ran towards Jiran Garden where Xia Zhaoyi was.
Xia Songyue and Chen Dingshan followed quickly.
The only ones left at the door were the housekeeper and Nie Qingling who came to open the door.
Nie Qingling looked at the direction they left, blinked blankly, and then lowered his head to look at his empty hand.
There was a slight cough from the side.
Nie Qingling turned around and said, "Steward Zeng."
"Miss Nie, the master of the house has asked me to arrange your accommodation. You will sleep here first tonight."
"No, there's no need to bother. Nie's Mansion is just around the corner. I..."
"You can't go back to the Nie family," Butler Zeng interrupted her, "If you go home, the Nie family will be in catastrophe. If you don't go back, you can be safe for the time being."
"..."
"Come, Miss Nie, come with me."
Nie Qingling looked in the direction of the Nie family in a panic, her sight seemed to be able to pass through the high walls and the night. After a moment of relief, she pursed her pale lips and followed Butler Zeng away.
Zhili hurried to Xia Zhaoyi's courtyard. There were only Zhan Ning, Su Yumei, and two servant girls in front of the door.
Xia Zhaoyi's door was closed tightly. When she saw Zhili running towards her, Su Yumei stepped forward and said, "You must be Miss A Li's little junior brother Zhili."
"Hello, you're polite," Zhili gasped, "Where is my senior sister."
"Miss Ah Li went to bed after taking a bath. She was too tired."
"What about my senior sister's injuries?"
"Miss Ali, you can handle it yourself." Su Yumei smiled lightly.
"I haven't made amends yet," said Zhang Li, "This time it's all because of me. Senior sister saved me, but I caused an unreasonable disaster."
"A military strategist is skilled in martial arts, and his purpose is to protect his relatives and friends. How could he cause an unintentional disaster?" Zhan Ning said.
"Young Master Zhi, you should also go take a bath and rest." Su Yumei said.
He stood up helplessly and had no choice but to rest: "Yeah."
At 4:00 a.m. the next day, Zhili got up early and wanted to wait for his senior sister at the door.
When he ran to Jiran Garden, he found that the door of the master bedroom in Jiran Garden was wide open, the quilts were neatly laid out, and there was no one there.
Following the movement outside, he went to the large open space in the middle courtyard. Chen Dingshan and the others were doing strength training. After asking around, he ran to the kitchen.
Xia Zhaoyi was wearing pajamas, sitting at the stone table, drinking porridge with his head bowed.
Su Yumei is also here, and Butler Zeng is talking about something.
A little puppy ran here and there, sniffing everywhere and wagging its tail.
Zhili couldn't bear to disturb him, so he walked away.
Hearing the commotion, Xia Zhaoyi and Su Yumei turned around and said indifferently: "Senior sister."
"How good is it to sleep here?" Xia Zhaoyi asked.
"Well, I thought I was the first to get up, but I didn't expect that I was the last."
Xia Zhaoyi smiled and said: "There is porridge in the kitchen."
"I'm not hungry yet."
"I'm going out later. If you want to be with me..."
"I'll go to Sheng immediately." Zhili interrupted her.
Su Yumei watched him running and said with a smile: "Miss Ah Li's little junior brother, he is lively, healthy and full of vigor."
"Fragmentation is good," Xia Zhaoyi said warmly, looking back at Butler Zeng and continuing the topic, "In such a large Mingtai County, there are only dozens of virtuous and virtuous people?"
"Well, Mingtai County is mostly made up of farmers, and there are very few talented and virtuous people. Those with a little bit of talent and learning, if they get some fame and come back and wait until old age, everyone can become a sage in the village."
Zhili came back quickly with half a bowl of hot porridge, put it down and said, "Senior sister, I also have an opinion."
"What's your opinion?" Xia Zhaoyi asked.
"I found that although the main occupation of this place is farming and not many people study, I see that the people here are simple and honest, and there are very few barbaric people. The most barbaric ones are the money raised by the dignitaries. Ri'an, Princess Yangping
and so on."
Butler Zeng nodded: "Because farmers have fields to cultivate and businesses to work on. Most of them are well off and have no worries about food and clothing. The landlords and rich people have not bullied them, and there has never been any deliberate miskeeping of accounts or defrauding others."
"Senior sister," Zhili looked at Xia Zhaoyi, "What are you going to do later?"
"I'm going to visit some respected old people."
"Them?" Zhili frowned, "Senior sister, are you trying to unite with them?"
"yes."
"Just them?" Zhi Li was not optimistic, "These are people who are wise enough to protect themselves. Senior sister, I don't think so."
"Mingzhe protects himself, because someone is blocking the front, so they can hide. But if the person blocking the front is themselves, how can they protect themselves?" Xia Zhaoyi said.
"Senior sister means..."
"I'm not begging them," Xia Zhaoyi smiled, "They're the dry land and we're the rain. They're the ones hoping someone can save them."
"Wait for me, wait for me," Zhi Li hurriedly lowered his head and drank the porridge. He grinned because he was burned. He took a few hard breaths and stopped drinking. He looked at Butler Zeng, "Don't throw it away, it will be a waste. I will come back at noon to drink.
