In the early morning of July 22nd, there was a scene of busy work in Fanloufang, Nanshi.
The strong smell of alum and mineral dyes wafts out from the workshop. In each dyeing shop, countless freshly dyed cloths are hung on bamboo poles more than three feet high. The materials are fluttering gently in the wind, including red and yellow. The five colors, green, indigo and purple, are like colorful neon falling into the world.
A red-haired girl timidly came to the entrance of Fangshi holding a few pieces of clothing. She looked around, but did not dare to step in easily. After a long time, she chose one of the dye shops and walked straight over. This one There is no signboard in front of the dye house, and it is the smallest in the entire Fanloufang. However, the purple brocade hanging in the courtyard is the brightest among all the dye houses.
Ning Yue was entrusted by Sister Jia to renovate some old clothes for her. She agreed without thinking at the time. Only later did she remember that Granny Cen once said that the dyeing shop she opened was in In the fan building, the girl was afraid that she would be nagged after seeing the other party, but she could no longer refuse Sister Jia's request, so she stood outside the room and hesitated for a long time.
Previously, the girl was thinking that Granny Cen opened the shop to hide her identity, so her dyeing skills would not be very good. It happened that Sister Jia was very picky about the color of fabrics, so she chose this shop that seemed to have the most exquisite craftsmanship. dye village.
It was still early and Ranzhuang hadn't opened the door yet. Unexpectedly, Ning Yue had just knocked on the door and entered the courtyard. At a glance, Ning Yue saw Granny Cen directing several girls to be busy in the courtyard. She was so scared that she immediately shrank her neck and wanted to Exited. Unfortunately, her red hair was too conspicuous, and she had already been grabbed by the girl who answered the door. Everyone's eyes, including the old woman's, were instantly focused on this guest.
"Rare visitor, really rare visitor!"
Seeing that the person coming was Ning Yue, Granny Cen smiled from ear to ear. She immediately threw away the work in her hands and ran to her with small steps:
"Miss Yue'er, I've finally come to you today!"
Ning Yue did not answer, but smiled awkwardly at the other party.
"Mother-in-law, it turns out this is the girl you told us about. The daughter of a high priest, she is really pretty!"
A girl next to her also chimed in. Ning Yue glanced at the other person's blue eyes, which were the same as her own, and immediately realized that the people in the courtyard were all from Chanyinghai, and they already knew her identity earlier.
"I didn't expect that the young lady is quite clever. She actually found me right after searching!"
"No, it's not - I just think the purple dyed here is the prettiest, so, that's why I came in..."
Ning Yue responded hesitantly. Grandma Cen was very happy about the girl's visit. She didn't seem to hear her explanation at all. She just quickly took all the clothes in her hand that needed to be refurbished:
"People on land have a saying: It's better to meet by chance than to meet by chance. Since we're already here, it's good to sit down for a while!"
Even though the red-haired girl was unwilling in every way, she really couldn't refuse the other party's enthusiasm, so she had to follow the old woman half-pushingly and half-stepping to sit under an old locust tree in the courtyard. Looking at the purple color all over the courtyard, she finally couldn't help but ask :
"Grandma Cen, what method did you use to dye this purple color brighter than others?"
"People on land use purple clover to dye cloth. However, the purple root part of this grass is the most difficult to extract, and the color is also crimson, so the dyed color is not very bright. And the dye we use comes from it—— "
The old woman smiled mysteriously and pointed at the seventeen or eight large tanks that were as tall as half a person in the room next to her. Ning Yue couldn't help but be curious, so she walked forward and saw the water in the tank. It turned out to be a turbid purple color. Under the turbid water, there were round objects the size of fists adsorbed on the wall of the tank.
“This is—Xiu Luo!”
The girl couldn't help but exclaimed. Grandma Cen nodded and waved her hand to indicate to her to be quieter:
"The country of Ye is close to the sea, so it is not difficult to get some live snails. But people on land don't know that the mucus on them is a high-quality purple dye. Therefore, the cloth we dye can All the other families competed."
"But ordinary snails won't change the color of water!"
Ning Yue still shook her head in disbelief. Xiu snail was once one of her favorite toys in her childhood, not only because it was the most common in the Chanying Sea, but also because of its colorful and beautiful shell.
"What the lady said is correct. The mucus from the snail cannot be used as a dye by scraping it off directly. The key is to mix it with the herb. Haven't you smelled a faint fragrance since you entered the hospital just now?"
Hearing what the other party said, the girl couldn't help but twitch her nose. Sure enough, she smelled the faint fragrance of plants in the air, and nodded repeatedly to express her admiration:
“I didn’t expect Grandma Cen to have put so much effort into it!”
"Look what you are saying, we have so many mouths to eat and wear clothes in this city. If we don't work hard to dye cloth, where will the money and silver come from to spend it?"
After hearing the girl's compliment, the old woman smiled even brighter. However, just as the embarrassment between the two gradually disappeared, the copper door knocker on Ranzhuang's door was knocked again. The person outside the door seemed to have something. Although there were urgent matters, Yu used all his strength in his hands, but he always maintained a strange rhythm of three short and one long.
When she heard the knock on the door, the smile on Granny Cen's face immediately faded. She didn't speak, but just winked at the two girls beside her. The two girls immediately understood and quickly stepped forward to open the door a narrow gap to let each other in. Come in.
The person who came was a girl with stab wounds. Her eyes were also blue, and she had obviously come from this courtyard. However, she was wearing a military uniform with narrow sleeves and trousers to facilitate movement. She was also hit on the shoulder. Three feather arrows. The girl's whole body was trembling with severe pain, her clothes were soaked with cold sweat, and her messy hair stuck to her skin, making her look miserable.
"Hurry up and take her to the cellar to hide her. I'm afraid the pursuers will arrive in a blink of an eye. You must not be discovered by them!"
Grandma Cen seemed to have anticipated this situation, and immediately waved her hand and gave orders to the rest of the people in the courtyard. Ning Yue couldn't help but tense up when she saw this. However, before she could ask more questions, the old woman had already listened. He told me:
"Miss, I have to ask you to cooperate with me later and pretend that this is the first time you come back to this dye house. Don't say anything. Otherwise, I'm afraid we will all be guilty of this today, or even lose our lives!"
Although Ning Yue still wanted to ask clearly, she could read the seriousness of the situation from the old woman's expression. Time was running out, so she had no choice but to nod her head and swallow all her questions. As expected, the injured girl had just After being helped into the cellar and hid, there was a commotion outside the workshop, and then a group of soldiers on horseback directly opened the door of the dye house and broke into the yard.
"Search for me immediately. Even if you dig three feet into the ground today, you still have to find the thief!"
A sergeant who looked like a school captain roared angrily. But judging from the gilt family emblem on his chest and the handle of the knife, he was actually a soldier raised in Jinghaihou's mansion!
Grandma Cen secretly squeezed the red-haired girl's hand to signal her not to act too nervous, then smiled and greeted the visitor, as if she had been in the city for many years:
"My lords, please calm down. What is it that makes you so anxious this early in the morning?"
"A thief sneaked into the Jinghai Marquis' Mansion last night to steal. The Marquis ordered us to catch him quickly! The female thief's whereabouts were exposed at dawn and she was hit by several arrows. Some people in the house also said that they saw her hiding in this dye house. Old woman,
If you know someone better, hand him over as soon as possible!"
The leader of the Fu Bing Xiao Lieutenant was aggressive and wanted to rush into Ranzhuang again. Grandma Cen suddenly opened her arms and stopped him in front of him, saying righteously:
"My lord, it's not easy for me to open such a shop. If the fabric is stained, I'll have to drink a lot of food this month. This is a serious business. If you want to go in and search, please bring out the Tingwei
Here comes the secretary’s paperwork!”
"Jinghai Marquis never needs any paperwork when he takes someone! Mother-in-law, don't stop me, otherwise you will be treated as an accomplice!"
The Fubing Xiaowei said that he pulled out a section of the long knife from his waist as a demonstration. However, he also knew that without the documents from the Tingwei Division, he could not break into the house without permission, so he cautiously held it back.
pace.
"My lord, I have had quite a few guests here since early in the morning, and there are still some who have not left yet. If there are bad people hiding in, you will know as soon as you ask, so why bother to cause embarrassment?"
Seeing that the other party no longer pushed forward, Grandma Cen softened her tone slightly and raised her finger to point at Ning Yue behind her.
The captain of the Fubing Academy looked at the red-haired girl up and down, and saw that her dress was completely different from the rest of the people in the courtyard, so he asked with a little suspicion:
"Where did you come from?"
"Jiayunzhai. The landlady asked me to get some clothes to dye. I just walked in the door not long ago." Ning Yue was prepared and responded deliberately pretending to be a little panicked.
"You just came here? Then you don't recognize these people in the courtyard?" the captain opposite asked again.
"Of course I don't recognize you. This is the first time in my life that I've come back to Ranzhuang."
"But why do you stutter when you speak? Is it because you feel guilty?"
"My lord, you all look fierce. I am a girl's family, so you will naturally be scared when you see so many weapons!"
Faced with doubts, Ning Yue still behaved calmly.
After hearing this answer, a person behind the captain came forward and whispered in his ear:
"Sir, I heard that there is indeed a red-haired girl in Nagayunzhai, who is very close to Young Master Ziyin and General Baili. We are only here to arrest people, there is no need to cause trouble anymore..."
The captain was not a reckless person. After hearing what his subordinates said, he immediately found a step for himself:
"That's right, Nanshi Jiayunzhai, who doesn't know this in Mulu City? I vaguely remember that the landlady really likes to wear purple clothes. It seems that the thief has indeed not hidden here. Let's search elsewhere!"
Just like that, the group of people got on their horses in a hurry and gradually drove away amidst the sound of hoofbeats and horses' neighing. It was only then that everyone in the courtyard finally breathed a sigh of relief, but their backs were already wet with sweat.
Grandma Cen walked back to Ning Yue, pulled her up and walked into the house before she dared to speak: "Miss Yue'er, you have just done me a big favor!"
"Grandma Cen, how could you let that injured girl go steal things from Jinghaihou's mansion? Isn't this asking for death?" The red-haired girl was in shock. She kept touching her chest with her hands and asked with a pair of blue eyes. Get the other person up.
"Alas, Miss Yue'er, you don't know something. The reason why I acted like this is just to find out one thing. Moreover, I already have some clues now——"
"What's that?"
"Did you know that our ancestors once left a powerful weapon in this world called the firebolt blunderbuss. Its range far exceeds that of any kind of crossbow on land, and it is also extremely light and can be used easily by women, children and the elderly. However, I have received many secret reports recently, saying that these people on land have somehow re-mastered the method of making this kind of firearm. And the source is probably from the Marquis Jinghai Mansion in Mulu City. !”
"If Ye State does have such a powerful weapon, why have I never heard Zi Yin talk about it?"
"As the saying goes, knowing people but not knowing their hearts is related to the rise and fall of a country. How could that land-based brat easily tell you about such a confidential matter?"
Although Grandma Cen did not look directly at the girl next to her when she said this, she narrowed her eyes and secretly measured her reaction.
"Zi Yin will tell me everything. But I've heard from Little Stutter a long time ago that Marquis Jinghai is not a good person - if he has some bad intentions secretly - no, I have to go to the palace immediately and tell them both. !”
After hearing the news, Ning Yue became uneasy. The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong, so she turned around and left. But Granny Cen, who was standing aside, did not stop her and just asked with a little surprise:
"Miss Yue'er, even if you rush back now, I'm afraid you won't be able to see the person you want to see. It's a shame that you still trust those two land-based brats so much, but they are going to sail out to sea today to expedition to the Peng Kingdom. How come you don’t seem to know at all?”
"What? You said Ziyin and Xiaostutter are going to sea today? When?!"
The red-haired girl couldn't help but feel a thump in her heart, and turned around to stare at Granny Cen in surprise.
"If the news I received is correct, the Ye Kingdom fleet should have set sail at sunrise this morning, and may have already left the port by this time."
The news that Jiang Yan and Qi Ziyin were about to go out with the navy was like a thunderclap in Ning Yue's mind. At the same time, the sound of drums and trumpets drifted into the courtyard with the wind, making her even more distraught. Ruo Huo Liao is so anxious that he is about to cry:
"Idiot, idiot, idiot! Why are you hiding everything from me? Why?"
She looked up at the already rising sun, and without any time to say anything else, she rushed out of Ranzhuang and ran towards Baishaying.
Seeing this, several girls also walked out of the house again, gathered around the old woman and asked:
"Grandma Cen, we finally got the chief priest's daughter. Why did you let her go so easily?"
The old woman shook her head, looking at the fiery red color gradually disappearing in the gradually awakening street market, with a meaningful smile on her face:
"At this moment, it is difficult for the young lady to let go of the two land-based teenagers. The trust between them must be shaken little by little. Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. When the time comes, she will have to Come with us."
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